Why Smart Sensors Matter in Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Why Smart Sensors Ma er in Electric
Vehicles (EVs)
Sponsored by ScioSense Oct 14 2024
Reviewed by Andrea Salazar
Sensors survey crucial areas in electric vehicles, including battery condition, indoor
climate, and air quality. They contribute to enhanced safety, higher energy efficiency,
and more comfort. When combined with other smart technologies, they also increase
vehicle range.
Image Credit: ScioSense
Electromobility is becoming more widespread in many areas of the world. New vehicles are
coming to market in increasingly truncated development cycles, distinguishing themselves
from the competition with longer ranges, smart functions, and novel comfort features.
Owing to e-mobility's innovation-first nature, new players are catching up to established
industry leaders by building novel technologies and bringing them to market quickly and
with versatility.
Essential technological drivers underlying development toward increasingly smart electric
vehicles are highly efficient computers, which increasingly optimize and automate the
driving experience, and sophisticated sensors, which deliver the required raw data. Without
precise collection and processing of key data, it would not be possible to realize the vision
of the smart, sustainable vehicle of the future.
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Why Smart Sensors Matter in Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Recognizing Critical Battery Conditions at an Early
Stage
An example of the crucial role of sensors in electric vehicles is tracking battery status via
metal oxide (MOX) sensors. Stringent regulatory criteria apply to batteries in electric
vehicles to secure passengers’ safety. Simultaneously, the batteries undergo high stress
levels during rapid charging and discharging. In certain instances, this may lead to a fire in
case of a defect or damage from an accident.
Image Credit: ScioSense
Complying with the United Nations Global Technical Regulation on Electric Vehicle Safety
(EVS), battery manufacturers and OEMs should ensure that drivers and passengers can
leave the vehicle in such events before a fire or, at worst, a battery explosion.
Uncontrolled heat development stemming from critical battery conditions should be
identified early on. Broadband gas sensors for metal oxides (MOX) are optimally suited as
they can detect the development and outgassing of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and
organic solvents in a chemical reaction before thermal runaway can occur.
In independent experiments, the specially engineered BCM1 sensor module from
ScioSense for condition monitoring of Li-ion batteries reacted up to 40 seconds faster than
temperature and battery voltage sensors. In an ideal scenario, these sensors would be
integrated into the battery’s modules so that problems can be recognized before spreading
to the whole battery of the vehicle (thermal propagation). This facilitates fast
countermeasures and early warning of the occupants.
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Why Smart Sensors Matter in Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Image Credit: ScioSense
Optimized Climate Control Increases Range
Air quality and environmental sensors are critical in air conditioning electric vehicles. The
goal of tracking the interior climate is to optimally manage temperature via smartly
controlled outdoor and indoor air circulation while simultaneously preventing windows from
fogging. When cooling the vehicle at warm outside temperatures, the sensors also ensure
that the air conditioning compressor’s performance and heat pump are optimally
coordinated to obtain the most ideal cabin climate with the lowest possible energy
consumption.
As such, air quality and environmental sensors allow optimizing the vehicle’s temperature
and humidity, thus increasing comfort. They simultaneously help boost the air conditioning
system’s efficiency, which reduces energy consumption and directly impacts the vehicle's
range.
An independent study by “Car and Driver Magazine” in 2020 identified variations of up to 13
percent in an electric vehicle's battery range dependent on air conditioning settings. This
demonstrates the importance of monitoring and data collection by sensors in the air
conditioning system and vehicle cabin.
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Why Smart Sensors Matter in Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Sensors Working Together
In an ideal scenario, data from multiple sensors is merged in a smart system to optimize
climate control: Modules for identifying the outside air are utilized to regulate air inlet valves
and mixers with the recirculated cabin air, alongside optional dew point detection.
Sensors upstream of the air conditioning compressor assess the air’s temperature and
humidity, which are soon released into the cabin. Additional sensors can support the data,
which are installed at different positions in the passenger area or directly on the
windscreen. This facilitates individual fine-tuning of the air conditioning or dependable and
energy-saving windscreen defogging.
Fully Automatic Air Quality Control
Air quality monitoring goes even further with an in-demand comfort function, especially in
the luxury segment. Intelligent sensors assess a vehicle’s air quality and surrounding
environment to automatically regulate the air conditioning system.
ScioSense has built a reference design based on MOX sensors that assesses the
concentration of airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs), allowing it to draw
conclusions about air quality.
Unpleasant environmental odors stemming from exhaust fumes, industrial plants, or
agriculture, for example, can be detected alongside odors from food or cigarette smoke
indoors. By comparing the air quality, systems can automatically regulate air exchange and
circulation alongside active air purification. The result is optimized air quality in the
passenger compartment with minimal energy expenditure.
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Why Smart Sensors Matter in Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Image Credit: ScioSense
Challenges for OEM Integration
Condition monitoring for e-car batteries is already a crucial safety feature, and its
significance is growing alongside the demand for increasingly powerful batteries and faster
charging speeds. Sensors for air and environmental monitoring have superb potential for
controlling climate in e-mobility, as the efficiency of heat and ventilation management
directly affects the range of the vehicles.
Owing to stringent safety criteria, ever-shorter innovation cycles, and sometimes
complicated certification processes, suppliers and vehicle manufacturers in the automotive
industry are advised to deal with smart sensors and their design-in early on. It also makes
sense to be ready when the sensors become a standard industry requirement. Factors,
including energy efficiency and range, are key aspects for vehicle manufacturers to
consider to fare well against global competition.
ScioSense supports companies worldwide in introducing new technology to their workflows.
It has over 25 years of experience in the automotive sensor technology sector.
Customers and partners can benefit from the rapid and versatile development of
customized product variants and integration support from the engineering team at seven
locations globally, with headquarters in the Netherlands and a local-for-local approach for
direct contact between customers and the development team.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by
ScioSense.
For more information on this source, please visit ScioSense.
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Why Smart Sensors Matter in Electric Vehicles (EVs)
ScioSense
Address
High Tech Campus 10
Eindhoven
5656 AE
Netherlands
Phone: +31 40 747 0900
Visit Website
ScioSense: for the highest performance in environmental and flow sensors.
The ScioSense portfolio of environmental and flow sensors is aimed at demanding users in
the automotive, industrial, building automation, and consumer device markets which want
compact, low-power board-mount products and superior sensor performance.
The high accuracy, precision and stability of ScioSense products is the result of four
decades of experience in sensor development. The latest products include the ENS220
barometric pressure and temperature sensor, the ENS21x family of high-performance
digital temperature and humidity sensors and the UFM-01 ultrasonic flow module.
ScioSense is a joint venture between sensor IC manufacturer ams AG and China’s Wise
Road Capital, but its heritage in sensor product development stretches back to earlier
companies including ACAM and Applied Sensor.
Today, ScioSense products hold leading positions in markets such as:
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Why Smart Sensors Matter in Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Automotive air quality sensing for automated cabin ventilation control
Automotive gas sensing for battery or fuel cell monitoring
Industrial, commercial and residential air quality sensing
Flow sensing in gas meters and water meters
Flow sensing in industrial processes
The ScioSense product portfolio also includes sensor interfaces, capacitive and resistive
sensors and time-to-digital converters.
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