EE Seminar: Charging of Electric vehicles: Direct DC, vehicle to grid & heavy duty

Abstract: In this talk, we will investigate three critical technologies for electric vehicle charging, namely, direct DC charging with solar and battery, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology and charging of heavy-duty vehicles. First, we will look at (bidirectional) power converter topologies for solar-powered EV chargers and how to increase power density and efficiency. Then, we will explore how EV batteries can be used as energy storage for the grid and how charging algorithms can help facilitate the mass EV-grid integration and reduce battery capacity fade. Finally, we will study electrification of heavy-duty vehicles such as (trolley) busses and modular design of chargers for megawatt level charging of trucks. To conclude, we will look at examples of current research at TU Delft in EV charging space.

Speaker Bio: Gautham Ram is an Assistant Professor of Electric Mobility in the Department of Electrical Sustainable Energy, Faculty of EEMCS at TU Delft. His current research focuses on electric vehicles, EV charging, batteries and power electronics. He is currently involved in many research projects at national and EU level concerning electric mobility such as TULIPS, Drive2X, FLOW, FlexEC, FLEXInet. He is the coordinator and lecturer for the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Electric cars on edX.org with ~215,000 learners from 175 countries. He received his PhD from TU Delft in 2018 for the development of a solar-powered V2G electric vehicle charger and was later a postdoctoral researcher from 2017-19. Google scholar: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=ri-Hp7cAAAAJ&hl=en