Abstract:Electric-drive continues to pique imaginations of motorists: clean skies, quiet cars, and plentiful electricity produced from non-polluting domestic sources. So where are our electric automobiles? The answer depends in part on what is an electric automobile. We have seen variations in electric vehicle (EV) size, performance, and definition in efforts to overcome the fundamental challenge of electric-drive – how to store energy and supply power. In short, where are our batteries? This chapter addresses one variation on the definition of an EV and the state of battery development for it – plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

Note:Chapter 16 in Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Power Sources, Models, Sustainability, Infrastructure and the Market, edited by Gianfranco Pistoia.  Elsevier, 2010.