My electric car journey started five years ago, and today is even more exciting than when I bought my first electric car.

No more worrying about gas prices at gas stations, mileage anxiety is no longer an issue because I can charge my car in my garage overnight, and my home city, Hong Kong, has a huge fast charging infrastructure. Just press the gas pedal and the electric car delivers plenty of torque in no time, and it's no problem to catch up with the staggering number of supercars in the city.

The team I lead to design hybrid and electric vehicle powertrain technology gave me a unique understanding of electric vehicles. Instead of seeing them as cars with batteries and electric motors, they see them as large electronic devices that are innovating at the same rapid pace as communications infrastructure, enterprise computing, and the personal electronics market.

Our company's technology helps make electric vehicles more accessible and make our world safer and more energy efficient.

The following five innovations represent some of the reasons why electric vehicles are becoming mainstream:

1. Be confident in the remaining mileage

Battery power is one of the concerns consumers pay when considering whether to buy an electric car. The good news: Advanced battery management systems (BMS) can help overcome key barriers to EV adoption, including concerns about range, safety, reliability, and cost. Automakers are striving to achieve the longest possible range, and accurate battery level calculations are critical to knowing the remaining range of a vehicle. TI's new devices dramatically improve voltage and current measurement accuracy, giving automakers the confidence to accurately measure the true range of electric vehicles.

Advances in battery monitors and balancers will enable better state-of-charge and health-state monitoring, allowing automakers to charge and discharge car battery packs unmatched by any previously released battery monitor. This reduces uncertainty and effectively increases the range of electric vehicles, or enables manufacturers to provide the same effective range with smaller, lighter battery packs.

2. Faster charging

Many people wonder if it is possible to charge electric cars easily and quickly at home and on long journeys. The key to increasing charging speed without endangering battery health is to continuously supply the ideal voltage and current to each cell. The new on-board charger solution increases charging speed and ensures chargers can be powered at high currents and voltages that each battery cell can control at any time, while avoiding overcharging or overheating conditions that can reduce battery life and capacity.

Today, I'm in my garage charging my electric car overnight. In the future, hopefully we'll be able to use a DC wall-mounted charging case at home to charge an 800V system in less than two hours. In fact, some device manufacturers are working on technology that can be fully charged in minutes. In addition, bidirectional charging enabled by semiconductor technology is making vehicle-to-grid, vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-infrastructure a reality.

3. Quickly speed up without affecting the cruising range

I like the fact that my electric car is good at accelerating. The driving experience is quick and fun. Traction inverter systems convert battery energy into the power needed to control torque and speed, and are therefore the driving force behind electric vehicle range, performance, and driving experience. The system takes energy from the battery and feeds it to electric motors with high and rapidly changing voltages and currents for superior performance in a wide range of conditions. The efficiency of the traction inverter system is key to ensuring a smooth, enjoyable experience for the driver when accelerating.

Advanced semiconductor features, such as adjustable gate drive strength in isolated gate drivers, enable electric vehicles to adjust their power usage based on road conditions, driving styles, and weather. Whether you're winding your way down a steep mountain road or driving in a flat area, you won't waste battery power.

4. Achieve safer and more reliable operation

In addition to longer range and faster charging, our power management technology provides precise power protection and functional safety features to protect vehicle operation and reassure consumers that their electric vehicles will be safe and reliable to drive. Preventing batteries from overcharging, overheating, or overdischarging extends battery life and improves safety. It also helps protect the driver and occupants from being bogged down or exposed to danger due to sudden component failures. At the same time, advanced sensors and microcontrollers help complete driver safety systems, alerting and even responding to sudden hazards.

5. Economical and practical

The technology trend towards vehicle electrification will enable automakers to rethink the design of automotive system architectures that can be used for different models and future generations, which is a rare opportunity for innovation. In addition to rethinking and redesigning systems, automakers are introducing innovative solutions such as zone control, integrated powertrains, wireless battery management systems, smart battery junction boxes, and bidirectional charging. As a result, consumers will get better performance, range, comfort, overall system size and cost, and more affordable vehicles.

Future prospects

The vision of making it easier to drive electric cars is becoming a reality, but there is room for improvement. The high-performance components needed to achieve this are now available. Here's what I expect for the future: We will see greater standardization of automotive communication protocols. With cloud computing, machine learning will be able to perform tasks such as fleet management, battery aging calculations, or failure prediction algorithms. With wide bandgap semiconductors, electric vehicle drivetrains will become increasingly efficient and powerful. The semiconductor industry will continue to innovate with cost-effective materials and advanced technologies in an effort to manufacture vehicles that are cheaper but safer.

I love what I do. My team and I dedicate our days to designing hybrid and electric vehicle powertrain technology, working to transform electric vehicles from the dream of a few visionaries to the reality of today's sustainable mobility.