Digital twins will be instrumental in the operation of Electric Vehicles (EV) because they comprehensively model systems, including the integrated mechanical, electrical and software constituents and showcases how they work together. This combination of systems is referred to as an interdisciplinary system. To find out more about interdisciplinary systems in Electric Vehicles, click here .
The engineering and financial benefits of digital twins open up cost-effective and efficient development of sustainable EVs. For example, Tesla’s digital twin uses sensors in the vehicle to detect problems. They can test their software on the digital twin [simulation], before applying changes to the vehicle via software updates.
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) often have disconnected information silos and domains, making data preparation and machine programming repetitive and time consuming. To benefit EV manufacturing, digital twins assist the OEMs by standardising data and the rate of change. They can boost efficiency, and save time and manpower in data preparation.
From a social impact and social infrastructure perspective, EVs provide huge benefits and incentives including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and increased energy harvesting efficiency. The Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) captures the cost of climate change damage from carbon emissions. A recent report conducted by Stanford News indicated that choosing to drive a comparable EV instead of a petrol powered vehicle will result in a carbon emissions reduction about 4,096 pounds [1858kg] per year. A multitude of other benefits could be considered to get a full picture of why the move to EVs cannot happen soon enough.
For digital twins in EVs to become a reality, governments must reduce entry barriers. A change of policy and the introduction of appropriate incentives is essential in driving consumers to choose EVs over standard petroleum vehicles.