Electric vehicles rely heavily on power electronics?including inverters, converters, and chargers?to control the flow of electricity between the battery, the motor, and other powertrain components. NREL is helping boost the performance of power electronics components and systems, while driving down size, weight, and cost. In electric vehicles, these components need to operate at higher temperatures, voltages, switching frequencies, and power conversion efficiencies. That?s where NREL?s thermal management and reliability research comes in.