Title: Power Electronics Research Development for Energy Storage and Electric Vehicle

Abstract: Power electronics is an enabli9ng technology for power conversion.  The key components of an Electric Vehicle are the battery and the motor drive.  Energy storages such as batteries and super-capacitors are now the major units.  Energy cell packaging is now a new direction.  The use of energy cells to integrate with the vehicle body has been reported and suggests good potential for energy management.  The energy management and balance is now a necessary component to manage the energy cells.   Besides the energy storage and the traction motor and drives, there are numerous motors and actuators used in modern electric vehicles.  One of them is an active suspension system to replace the conventional hydraulic system.  The In-wheel motor is based on integrating the motor and wheel into a single unit that increase the power density and presents a real 4-wheel drive.  The skid steering can, therefore, be realized.  Also, the anti-lock braking (ABS) is an all-electric braking system, and replaces the conventional hydraulic system in ABS.

An extensive overview of the latest electric vehicle technology is presented.  The talk covers the major advanced components of an electric vehicle and the technology and research related to the development, and its associated power electronics development.  Finally, the talk is concluded with an outlook on future vehicles.

Biography: Prof Eric Cheng received the B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Bath, Bath, U.K., in 1987 and 1990, respectively.  Before joining The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, in 1997, he was with Lucas Aerospace, London, U.K., as a Principal Engineer. He is currently a Professor and the Director of the Power Electronics Research Centre, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has authored or co-authored over 400 papers and 7 books. His research interests include all aspects of power electronics, motor drives, electromagnetic interference, electric vehicles, battery management, and energy saving. Dr. Cheng was a recipient of the Institution of Electrical Engineers Sebastian Z De Ferranti Premium Award in 1995, the Outstanding Consultancy Award in 2000, the Faculty Merit Award for Best Teaching in 2003 from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Faculty Engineering Industrial and Engineering Services Grant Achievement Award in 2006, the Brussels Innova Energy Gold Medal with Mention in 2007, the Consumer Product Design Award in 2008, the Electric Vehicle Team Merit Award of the Faculty in 2009, the Geneva Invention Expo Silver Medal in 2011, the Eco Star Award in 2012, the Gold prize at Seoul International Invention Fair in 2015, the iCAN Gold Medal at Canada in 2016, and Gold Award of HK Innovation and Technology in 2017.