Electric vehicles are an integral part of transportation electrification and are increasingly embedded within smart-grid-integrated energy systems that support accessibility, efficiency, and reduced environmental impact. As electric vehicle adoption grows, new challenges emerge in intelligent vehicle control, energy management, load management, and EV integration into the smart grid. In response, this paper presents a comprehensive survey of electric vehicle systems covering market evolution, enabling technologies, operational performance, and the energy systems that underpin scalable electric mobility. The survey illustrates the need for real-time monitoring, control, and optimization while exploring advanced computational approaches in quantum computing and machine learning that can address these challenges. Finally, this work identifies open research challenges and future directions related to energy optimization, smart-grid integration, and intelligent load management to provide a unified perspective on electric vehicles as a key component of both intelligent vehicle systems and sustainable smart transportation.