Since a Halbach array exhibits a number of attractive features, it has been increasingly applied to different market sectors, including aerospace, industrial, domestic, renewable and healthcare and so on. The need of fast global optimisation, cost-effective design and physical understanding of the relationship between parameters and performance requires a powerful analytical model. Hence, this study develops a general analytical model which is capable of predicting the electromagnetic performance of slotted/slotless permanent magnet (PM) brushless machines with both even- and odd-segment Halbach array, having different magnet remanence, magnetisation angle and arc for each single magnet segment. The emphasis has been on the magnetisation which is the key in analytical modelling of PM machines having a segmented Halbach array and its investigation. The validity of proposed analytical model is extensively examined by finite-element analyses, together with its applications for global optimisation and comparative study.

The mechanical drivetrain dynamics of electric vehicles can have a detrimental effect on the performance of the vehicle speed controller. It is common for the speed measurement from the motor encoder to be used for the vehicle speed feedback, after taking into account the gear ratio, but it is not valid to assume that motor and vehicle speeds are equal during transient conditions. In this study it is shown how the vehicle driveability can be greatly improved if estimates of vehicle speed and mass are obtained. Estimates of vehicle speed and mass have been realised using a Kalman filter (KF) and a recursive least-squares estimator, and validated with experimental results. The study also shows the importance of finding the most optimal process noise matrix Q for the KF, this has been carried out using a genetic algorithm, with the estimation accuracy then compared with varying vehicle mass.

A hybrid energy storage system (HESS) composed of electrochemical batteries and supercapacitors is considered. The supercapacitors aim to manage the peak power and thus increase the lifetime of the battery. A control scheme of this HESS is obtained by inversion of its energetic macroscopic representation. This control scheme enables different energy management strategies using a distribution input to share the energy between both devices. A switching strategy and a frequency strategy have been tested using this same control scheme. This flexible control scheme has been validated in real time by using a real HESS and a hardware-in-the-loop simulation of the traction system of an electric vehicle.