Film capacitor materials for electric vehicle applications: Status quo and future prospects

Owing to the urgent global demand for carbon emission reduction and enhanced energy efficiency, advanced semiconductor power devices in the electric vehicle (EV) industry have been increasingly adopted, and significant improvements in energy efficiency and the miniaturization of EV electrical systems have been made. A key component in this technological evolution is the polymer film capacitor, characterized by its high-voltage, high-frequency, and high-reliability performance, which makes it pivotal for advanced EV electrical systems. This review explores the critical role of polymer film capacitors in EV traction and charging systems, and by analyzing their operational principles, identifies the unique challenges faced by the energy storage polymers in capacitors developed for these applications. A systematic review of the research focused on enhancing the performance of energy storage polymers, with a goal of increasing the dielectric constant, improving the breakdown strength, optimizing structural designs, and modulating charge carriers, is also provided. Furthermore, this review highlights the discrepancies between industrial-scale manufacturing and laboratory fabrication. This study concludes with an assessment of several innovative laboratory preparation methods and strategies that have potential in scale-up production, mapping new trajectories for research aimed at optimizing polymer film capacitor dielectrics for EV applications.