To reduce the dependence on oil and environmental pollution, the development of electric vehicles has been accelerated in many countries. The implementation of EVs, especially battery electric vehicles, is considered a solution to the energy crisis and environmental issues. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the technical development of EVs and emerging technologies for their future application. Key technologies regarding batteries, charging technology, electric motors and control, and charging infrastructure of EVs are summarized. This paper also highlights the technical challenges and emerging technologies for the improvement of efficiency, reliability, and safety of EVs in the coming stages as another contribution.

Vehicle electrification has always been a hot topic and gradually become a major role in the automobile manufacturing industry over the last two decades. This paper presented comprehensive discussions and insightful evaluations of both conventional electric vehicle (EV) batteries (such as lead-acid, nickel-based, lithium-ion batteries, etc.) and the state-of-the-art battery technologies (such as all-solid-state, silicon-based, lithium-sulphur, metal-air batteries, etc.). Battery major component materials, operating characteristics, theoretical models, manufacturing processes, and end-of-life management were thoroughly reviewed. Different from other reviews focusing on theoretical studies, this review emphasized the key aspects of battery technologies, commercial applications, and lifecycle management. Useful battery managing technologies such as health prediction, charging and discharging, as well as thermal runaway prevention were thoroughly discussed. Two novel hexagon radar charts of all-round evaluations of most reigning and potential EV battery technologies were created to predict the development trend of the EV battery technologies. It showed that lithium-ion batteries (3.9 points) would be still the dominant product for the current commercial EV power battery market in a short term. However, some cutting-edge technologies such as an all-solid-state battery (3.55 points) and silicon-based battery (3.3 points) are highly likely to be the next-generation EV onboard batteries with both higher specific power and better safety performance.