Motor controls spin forward

Improved power handling and software advances make electrified powertrains more competitive.

Engineers who started with a blank slate have created complex systems that have many trade-offs, ranging from balancing performance of inverters and motors to determining how to extend driving range without sacrificing creature comforts. The controls are helping extend range and improve the overall performance of the vehicle.

System developers continue to devise new techniques that maximize the energy transfer from battery packs to wheels. A big part of the advances come in controls, which are now roughly as complex as those used for mature internal-combustion engines.