Battery choice and management for New Generation Electric Vehicles

Different types of electric vehicles (EVs) have been recently designed with the aim of solving pollution problems caused by the emission of gasoline-powered engines. Environmental problems promote the adoption of new-generation electric vehicles for urban transportation. As it is well known, one of the weakest points of electric vehicles is the battery system. Vehicle autonomy and, therefore, accurate detection of battery state of charge (SoC) together with battery expected life, i.e., battery state of health, are among the major drawbacks that prevent the introduction of electric vehicles in the consumer market. The electric scooter may provide the most feasible opportunity among EVs. They may be a replacement product for the primary-use vehicle, especially in Europe and Asia, provided that drive performance, safety, and cost issues are similar to actual engine scooters. The battery system choice is a crucial item, and thanks to an increasing emphasis on vehicle range and performance, the Li-ion battery could become a viable candidate. This paper deals with the design of a battery pack based on Li-ion technology for a prototype electric scooter with high performance and autonomy. The adopted battery system is composed of a suitable number of cells series connected, featuring a high voltage level. Therefore, cell equalization and monitoring need to be provided. Due to manufacturing asymmetries, charge and discharge cycles lead to cell unbalancing, reducing battery capacity and, depending on cell type, causing safety troubles or strongly limiting the storage capacity of the full pack. No solution is available on the market at a cheap price, because of the required voltage level and performance, therefore, a dedicated battery management system was designed, that also includes a battery SoC monitoring. The proposed solution features a high capability of energy storing in braking conditions, charge equalization, overvoltage and undervoltage protection and, obviously, SoC information in order to optimize autonomy instead of performance or vice-versa

Possible, alternative explanations of the T2K observation of the nu_e appearance from an initial nu_mu

An alternative explanation to the emergence of sin^2(2 theta_13) > 0 is discussed. It is pointed out that the recorded T2K events might have been due to some other new physics in the neutrino sector, related to the LSND/MiniBooNE sterile neutrino anomalies, for which there is nowadays a growing evidence. The presently running ICARUS detector with the CNGS beam will be able to distinguish between these two possible sources of the effectComment: 5 pages, 1 figur

On two approaches to studying the aftershocks of a strong earthquake

The paper is devoted to comparing two approaches to the study of aftershocks. The methodological foundations of the traditional approach were laid many years ago. A new approach has emerged relatively recently. The two approaches differ from each other in the object, purpose and method of research. The differences are as follows. With the new approach, attention is focused not on aftershocks, but on the source of the earthquake. The evolution of the source is studied experimentally, and not the degradation of the frequency of aftershocks. Instead of a speculative selection of empirical formulas, the source deactivation coefficient is measured, variations in the coefficient are observed, and only on the basis of measurements and observations are conclusions drawn about the dynamics of the source. Thus, the divergence between the two approaches is doctrinal. The new approach turned out to be effective. Through targeted analysis of aftershock data, the Omori epoch and the phenomenon of bifurcation of the earthquake source were discovered. The purpose of further research is indicated. Keywords: earthquake source, Omori law, Hirano-Utsu law, logistic law, deactivation coefficient, bifurcation, master equation, methodology.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure