Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Design Fundamentals: What Every Designer Should Know

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Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Design Fundamentals: What Every Designer Should Know

A reader’s guide to one of the most used EV textbooks, what is inside it, and how designers and engineers can get real value from it.

If you have searched for the electric and hybrid vehicles design fundamentals pdf, you are probably a student, a young engineer or a designer who wants to understand what sits under the skin of an electric car. The book behind that search is Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Design Fundamentals by Iqbal Husain. It has become one of the standard references for anyone learning how EVs and hybrids are designed as complete systems.

This guide explains what the book covers, who it is for, what changed in the third edition, how to get a legitimate copy and how to study it if you come from a design background rather than an engineering one. We also suggest other books to read alongside it.

What Is the Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Design Fundamentals PDF People Search For?

The PDF most people are looking for is the digital edition of Iqbal Husain’s textbook, published by CRC Press, part of the Taylor and Francis group. The current version is the third edition, released in 2021. It runs to 498 pages with 343 illustrations.

The book takes what it calls a systems level view. Instead of treating the battery, motor and electronics as separate subjects, it shows how they depend on each other. It balances theory with design guidelines and keeps the maths to what you actually need. That makes it more approachable than many engineering texts, though it is still a technical book.

498 pages

The length of the third edition, with 343 illustrations across 15 chapters. It covers everything from vehicle mechanics to the link between EVs and the power grid.

Source: Routledge, publisher’s page for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Design Fundamentals, 3rd edition

Who Is Iqbal Husain?

Iqbal Husain is the ABB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Carolina State University. He also directs the FREEDM Engineering Research Center and leads power electronics work for the PowerAmerica Institute there. His research focuses on electric machines, motor drives and power electronics, which are the heart of any electric drivetrain.

That background shapes the book, and it is part of why the text is trusted by lecturers who teach electric drives. The chapters on motors, inverters and motor control are especially detailed. If you want to understand why an EV feels the way it does when you press the pedal, those chapters explain it from first principles.

What the Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Design Fundamentals PDF Covers

The electric and hybrid vehicles design fundamentals 3rd edition has 15 chapters. They move from the basics of how a vehicle moves, through energy storage and electric machines, to control systems, the power grid and hybrid strategies.

Chapters in the third edition, grouped by topic

Topic areaChaptersWhat you learn
Vehicle basics1 Introduction, 2 Vehicle Mechanics, 3 Vehicle Architectures and Design, 4 Autonomous VehiclesHow forces act on a car and how EV and hybrid layouts are arranged
Energy storage5 Battery Energy Storage, 6 Alternative Energy StorageHow batteries and other storage options are chosen and sized
Motors and power electronics7 Electric Machines, 8 Control of AC Machines, 9 Power Electronic Converters, 10 Electric Motor DrivesHow the motor and inverter turn stored energy into motion
Control and the grid11 Vehicle Controllers and Communication, 12 Electric Vehicles and the Power GridHow the car’s computers talk, and how charging connects to the grid
Engines and hybrids13 Internal Combustion Engines, 14 Power Transmission, Brakes and Cooling Systems, 15 Hybrid Vehicle Control StrategyHow hybrids share work between an engine and a motor

Source: Routledge, table of contents for the third edition.

How the 15 chapters are split across topics

Vehicle basics 4 chapters Motors and electronics 4 chapters Engines and hybrids 3 chapters Energy storage 2 chapters Control and the grid 2 chapters Number of chapters

Source: RiyeVolt count based on the Routledge table of contents.

What is new compared with the second edition

The second edition came out in 2011, and a lot has changed since then. The third edition adds simulation based design analysis for traction inverters, electric machines and motor drives. It covers wide bandgap power electronics such as silicon carbide, and motors that use fewer rare earth magnets. It adds a full chapter on how EVs interact with the power grid, including charging stations, and a chapter on autonomous driving systems. Examples use industry software such as MATLAB and Simulink, PLECS, PSIM, Motor-CAD and Altair Flux.

Is There a Legal Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Design Fundamentals PDF?

Yes, but it is not free. The publisher sells an official ebook edition, and it is also available through major ebook stores. Many universities include it in their digital library, so if you are a student, check your library login first. You may be able to read the whole book online at no cost to you.

You will also find many sites offering a free download. Be careful. Most are pirated copies, and some are used to spread malware or collect personal details. Pirated files are also often older editions or poor scans with missing pages and unreadable equations. A second hand print copy of the second or third edition is a cheap, safe alternative if the ebook price is too high.

If you only need a taste before buying, the publisher’s page and some ebook stores offer a free preview of the opening pages and the full table of contents. That is enough to judge whether the level suits you.

The same caution applies to searches for an electric vehicles theory and design pdf or any other free textbook. If a site asks you to install software or enter card details to unlock a free PDF, close the page.

How to Study the Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Design Fundamentals PDF as a Designer

You do not have to read the book from cover to cover. If you come from product, UX or industrial design, start with the parts that shape what a driver sees and feels. Chapter 2 on vehicle mechanics explains why range drops at high speed and in headwinds. Chapter 3 on architectures explains why EV floors are flat and why the cabin can be so open. Chapter 5 on batteries explains why charging slows down as the battery fills.

From a product design point of view, those three chapters give you most of what you need to have better conversations with engineers. When you understand why the range estimate changes, you can design a screen that explains it honestly. When you understand charging curves, you can design a charging view that sets the right expectations. That is how technical knowledge turns into better experiences.

Engineers will want to go further into Chapters 7 to 10 on motors and power electronics, and Chapter 11 on vehicle controllers. The simulation examples are worth working through with the software if you have access to it.

You do not need to solve every equation in an engineering textbook. You need to understand enough to ask the right questions and spot the moments where the technology reaches the person driving.

RiyeVolt design note

Other Books to Read Alongside the Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Design Fundamentals PDF

No single electric vehicle design book covers everything. These pair well with Husain’s textbook:

  • Electric Vehicle Technology Explained by James Larminie and John Lowry. A gentler introduction that is good for readers without a strong maths background.
  • Modern Electric, Hybrid Electric, and Fuel Cell Vehicles by Mehrdad Ehsani and co-authors. A deeper engineering reference that goes further into powertrain design and fuel cells.
  • Automotive user experience books and papers. For designers, reading about driver distraction, in car interfaces and human factors fills the gap that engineering books leave.

Courses, Careers and What Comes Next

The book is often set as a core text on EV engineering courses around the world. If you are looking at an electric vehicle design course in India, you will find it on reading lists at several institutes offering certificates and short programmes in EV technology. UK and US universities use it on master’s courses in electric propulsion and power electronics.

Many readers are also curious about electric vehicle design salary levels. Pay depends heavily on the role, whether that is battery engineering, power electronics, software or design. We look at the roles and typical pay in our guide to becoming an electric vehicle product design engineer.

A simple reading plan for designers

  • Week 1: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, to understand how vehicles move and use energy.
  • Week 2: Chapter 3, to see how EV and hybrid layouts are arranged.
  • Week 3: Chapter 5, to learn how batteries behave during driving and charging.
  • Week 4: Chapter 12, to understand charging and the grid.
  • Then: pick the chapters that match the product you are working on.

Keep learning with RiyeVolt

Check your university or local library for official access to the book, or buy the ebook from the publisher.

Read our guide to electric vehicle system design for a quick, plain-English overview of how the parts connect.

Find more EV design reviews and guides at riyevolts.com.

References

  1. Routledge / CRC Press. Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Design Fundamentals, 3rd edition, by Iqbal Husain. routledge.com
  2. MathWorks. Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Design Fundamentals, 3rd edition (book overview). uk.mathworks.com
  3. WorldCat. Electric and hybrid vehicles: design fundamentals (catalogue record). worldcat.org
  4. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Library. Electric and hybrid vehicles: design fundamentals, 2nd edition record. biblio.tuat.ac.jp
RiyeVolt  •  Electric mobility, reviewed through design.  •  riyevolts.com

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