An industry 4.0 approach to electric vehicles

Abstract

Energy and environmental impacts are at the top of the list of major global challenges to be addressed within the next few years. With transportation being one of the most pollutant sectors, focus has been directed towards Electric Vehicles, due to their significantly less dependency on fossil fuels. Nevertheless, electric mobility is currently characterized by a limited driving range, leading manufacturers to investigating new methods that could increase range and charging efficiency. Current research is mainly focused on increasing battery performance and reducing charging time. This study concentrates on presenting a novel approach, based on replacing battery stations, where the vehicle’s batteries are replaced with a fully charged one (available at the station), while new modular batteries could be made on the spot. The existing gas station networks could be used for the replacement of electric car batteries. This will be addressing the issue of time-consuming charging of batteries. Through the assimilation of Industry 4.0 Key Enabling Technologies, the respective challenges can be addressed. This is illustrated through a holistic framework, whereby the requirements for the context-aware design of the car itself are also given and a specific solution, based on the mechanical mounting of batteries is discussed.