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Our journal welcomes not only original high-quality papers covering the theoretical, experimental and operational aspects of electrical and electronics engineering in mobile radio, motor vehicles and land transportation, but also industry-focused publication focusing on research findings and suggesting ideas that may be useful to those conducting similar research.
Our first monthly feature paper is an invited paper, co-authored by industry stakeholders who are expert in standardization and product development of ultra-wideband technology, which provided a comprehensive summary of the current state of UWB and the standards that are enabling continued mass market adoption. Complementing the invited paper is a feature article, coauthored by researchers from University of Strathclyde and Technical University of Denmark, which showed that while smart EV charging helps manage grid demand, harmonic distortion can exceed power quality limits, highlighting the need for updated power quality standards and harmonics-aware charging strategies.
We’ve provided short summaries of these feature articles, written in accessible language that we hope will make your reading experience enjoyable.
IEEE 802.15.4 IR-UWB: A Technology Precisely Positioned for Adoption
Clint Powell, Benjamin A. Rolfe, Dries Neirynck, and Jim Lansford
Summary contributed by Dries Neirynck (author): While ultra-wideband (UWB) has been around for over 2 decades, this paper captures a pivotal moment where the technology is finally going mainstream. We provide a comprehensive snapshot of where UWB technology stands today and where it's headed next. We map out the entire ecosystem—from the fundamentals of how the technology works, to real-world applications based on IEEE 802.15.4 standardisation now emerging in cars and smartphones, to future possibilities in health monitoring and wireless audio. We also tackle something rarely discussed: how UWB's extremely low power levels could revolutionize how we share crowded wireless spectrum, allowing many devices to operate simultaneously in the same frequencies without interfering with each other.
Full article: IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology, Volume 7
Harmonics Measurement, Analysis, and Impact Assessment of Electric Vehicle Smart Charging
Murat Senol, I. Safak Bayram, Lewis Hunter, Kristian Sevdari, Connor McGarry, David Campos Gaona, Oliver Gehrke, and Stuart Galloway
Summary by I. Safak Bayram: Smart electric vehicle (EV) charging is becoming increasingly important because it helps the power grid handle the growing number of EVs more effectively. Instead of allowing all vehicles to charge at full power whenever they are plugged in, smart charging can shift or limit charging to reduce stress on the network, lower peak demand, and make better use of off-peak electricity periods. This can help avoid expensive grid reinforcement, improve system operation, and also reduce charging costs for users. As smart charging becomes more widely adopted and is now being encouraged or required in many places, it is no longer enough to study only its benefits for load control and voltage management. It is also necessary to understand whether changing the charging current affects power quality in ways that may create new technical problems.
The novelty of this paper lies in showing that smart charging is not only a load management tool, but also a power quality issue that deserves much closer attention. While most previous studies have concentrated on voltage impacts, transformer loading, or charging optimization, this work provides a detailed experimental investigation of harmonic emissions under a wide range of smart charging current settings.
Using measurements from eight popular EV models, the paper goes beyond the common practice of testing chargers only at rated or fixed operating points and instead examines how harmonic distortion changes as the charging current is gradually reduced. This is especially important because real smart charging operation rarely happens at just one fixed level. In addition, the paper does not stop at individual vehicle analysis. It also studies multiple EVs charging together and uses a Monte Carlo based method to explore how harmonics may combine or cancel in more realistic group charging conditions.
By linking field measurements, statistical analysis, and industrial standard compliance assessment, the paper provides new evidence that lower charging currents can increase harmonic distortion and that current standards may not fully reflect the behaviors of EVs under practical smart charging conditions.
Full article: IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology, Volume 6
About the IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology (OJVT)
The IEEE OJVT covers the theoretical, experimental and operational aspects of electrical and electronics engineering in mobile radio, motor vehicles and land transportation. A brief summary of these fields of interest are as follows:
- Mobile radio shall include all terrestrial mobile services
- Motor vehicles shall include the components and systems and motive power for propulsion and auxiliary functions
- Land transportation shall include the components and systems used in both automated and non-automated facets of ground transport technology
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