This Issue, Energy Management Control and Optimization for Hybrid Electric Vehicles,
was set in motion over three years ago with the objective of addressing the challenges posed
by energy management control and optimization in vehicle hybridization. Papers were
invited that proposed novel power management methods capable of acquiring optimal
power handling, accommodating system inaccuracies, and suiting real-time applications to
improve the powertrain efficiency at different operating conditions. Some topics initially
proposed included an improvement in rule-based control strategies by optimizing the
design of their rules and the suitability of optimization-based methods to real-time application, as well as the proposal of novel control strategies. Experimental results describing
real-life applications of novel technologies were also requested. This was my first idea
of the themes for the papers in this Issue. However, as articles came in, this initial idea
evolved and expanded to other cross-cutting areas that have enriched the initial objective
of this Special Issue