From Power Electronics to Digital Twins and AI-Enabled Charging — Advancing Next-Generation Vehicles for Smart Grid Integration

The rapid electrification of transportation is transforming vehicles into active participants within smart grid ecosystems. Electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) can provide flexible energy resources, but their large-scale integration introduces challenges in charging scalability, grid stability, interoperability, battery durability, and user engagement. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated innovation across vehicle engineering, power electronics, intelligent control, digital twins, AI-driven energy management, and grid communication standards.Digitalization of vehicles and charging infrastructure generates large volumes of heterogeneous operational data. Artificial intelligence, digital twins, and advanced modeling enable predictive diagnostics, optimization, and coordinated energy exchange between mobility and power systems. Translating these capabilities into scalable, validated, and interoperable solutions remains a major research challenge requiring multidisciplinary collaboration.This Research Topic consolidates advances bridging component-level innovation and system-level integration. Contributions supported by experimental validation, computational modeling, or field deployment are encouraged. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:1. Technical Foundations and Power Electronics• Advanced motor control, lightweight materials, and aerodynamic design for efficiency;• Battery thermal management and durability enhancement;• On-board and off-board charging architectures and converter topologies;• Wide-bandgap device integration and thermal/magnetic optimization;• Reliability, EMI/EMC mitigation, and fault diagnostics for scalable charging.2. Smart Systems Integration• Vehicle-to-grid communication and bidirectional energy coordination;• Digital twin frameworks for monitoring and predictive maintenance;• Standards compliance and interoperability evaluation (ISO 15118, IEC 61851, OCPP);• Grid-aware smart charging under renewable variability and dynamic pricing.3. User-Centered Sustainability Perspectives• AI-enabled human–machine interfaces for safety and personalization;• Lifecycle and environmental impact assessment of materials and manufacturing;• User-focused charging outcomes and behavioral studies;• PHEV energy-management strategies and governance of data-driven infrastructure.4. Validation and Benchmarking• Computational modeling using FEA/CFD for structural and aerodynamic studies;• Experimental testing of thermal and energy systems;• Hardware-in-the-loop, interoperability testbeds, and pilot deployments;• Benchmarking methodologies and reproducibility-oriented research.5. AI-enabled Charging Systems and Energy Coordination• Forecasting of charging demand, session dynamics, and grid impacts;• Optimization of managed charging and bidirectional energy exchange;• Battery-aware intelligent charging diagnostics and monitoring;• Privacy-preserving and secure data-driven infrastructure;• Scalability and interoperability within smart grid environments.By integrating engineering, data science, and energy systems research, this Research Topic seeks to accelerate the development of reliable, interoperable, and sustainable mobility–energy ecosystems, enabling the low-carbon transition and resilient smart grid operation. Topic editors: Iwona Grobelna, Marta Zurek, ALPER KEREM, Sulabh Sachan Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77986/from-power-electronics-to-digital-twins-and-ai-enabled-charging---advancing-next-generation-vehicles-for-smart-grid-integration