22 February 2011 With the increasing price of oil and the growing pressure on countries to reduce their carbon emissions, the electric vehicle – or a hybrid such as the Toyota Prius – is becoming more attractive by the day. Seemingly a simple solution, the battery powered electric vehicle presents a range of challenges to vehicle designers and to the electronics engineer. Erik Soule, vice president of Linear Technology's signal conditioning products business, said: "There is a lot of power involved in an electric vehicle and bad things can happen if you don't manage it properly."
