Review A Review of Range Extenders in Battery Electric Vehicles: Current Progress and Future Perspectives Manh-Kien Tran 1,* , Asad Bhatti 2, Reid Vrolyk 1, Derek Wong 1 , Satyam Panchal 2 , Michael Fowler 1 and Roydon Fraser 2 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L3G1, Canada;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +1-519-880-6108 Abstract: Emissions from the transportation sector are significant contributors to climate change and health problems because of the common use of gasoline vehicles. Countries in the world are attempting to transition away from gasoline vehicles and to electric vehicles (EVs), in order to reduce emissions. However, there are several practical limitations with EVs, one of which is the “range anxiety” issue, due to the lack of charging infrastructure, the high cost of long-ranged EVs, and the limited range of affordable EVs. One potential solution to the range anxiety problem is the use of range extenders, to extend the driving range of EVs while optimizing the costs and performance of the vehicles. This paper provides a comprehensive review of different types of EV range extending technologies, including internal combustion engines, free-piston linear generators, fuel cells, micro Citation: Tran, M.-K.; Bhatti, A.; gas turbines, and zinc-air batteries, outlining their definitions, working mechanisms, and some recent Vrolyk, R.; Wong, D.; Panchal, S.; Fowler, M.; Fraser, R.