Electric vehicles (EVs), powered by electricity rather than fossil fuels, are transforming transportation and reducing environmental impacts. But what good is an EV if it can't be easily charged? In this month's column, Ramon Roche dives into the role of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in electric vehicle charging (EVC)—and the design considerations.

Just because a “rule of thumb” is usually based on experience instead of precise facts doesn’t negate its value. For instance, when I told my kids that a good rule of thumb was not to back-talk to their mother, they discovered very quickly how accurate my advice was once they crossed that line. There are a lot of rules of thumb that we rely on daily, including those that apply to PCB design.

At the Anaheim Electronics & Manufacturing Show in October, I had the opportunity to talk with some new PCB designers, including Jon Smith of Frontgrade Aethercomm. During the Anaheim show, John Watson, a PCB design instructor at Palomar College, led a panel of his past and present students, including Jon, who shared his story of switching from a construction career to PCB design in a matter of months, courtesy of Watson’s Palomar College design curriculum.