The goal of the study presented in this article is to provide a general overview of the various aspects related to electric vehicles (EVs), along with all associated emerging challenges and perspectives. In this context, the basic types of EVs and the corresponding charging technologies are analyzed. Since EVs are expected to be a key component of future smart electrical grids (SEG), connection to the grid issues, along with advanced charging techniques (i.e., wireless power transfer), are analyzed as well. To this end, the main features, the requirements of vehicle to grid (V2G) communications, as well as future developments and scenarios of electrification, are also presented and analyzed. Moreover, integration issues with currently deployed fifth generation (5G) mobile wireless networks are also outlined, in order to ensure optimum transmission and reception quality in V2G communications and improved user experience. This integration is also expanded in autonomous vehicles (AVs) technology (self-driving objects), since optimized information processing from various diverse sources is required in order to ensure advanced traffic management aspects.In this context, two major categories can be classified: a. Battery electric vehicles (BEV), and b. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). BEVs use batteries as a source of energy and they are also called "green vehicles, or clean vehicles, or eco-friendly vehicles" because they have zero emissions. In order to cover a travel distance, they are equipped with larger storage batteries than HEVs. However, the limited traveling distance of BEVs is an important drawback because it is often necessary to recharge the battery by connecting to an external power source (in city cars, autonomy starts from 100 to 120 km and reaches 500 km or more in high power cars-Tesla Model). A HEV is classified as a car that uses two or more different technologies to achieve its movement. These technologies usually include the classic internal combustion engine and a more "mild" environmentally-friendly technology, usually an electric motor. However, the electric motor is used as a supplementary power source in cases where the HEV requires more power.It is apparent from the above that proper energy management is of vital importance for the smooth operation of EVs. A challenging research field includes the design and implementation of efficient charging schemes that ensure fast and reliable EV charging in order to increase vehicle autonomy. In this concept, the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) approach aims to optimize the way we transport, use, and produce electricity by turning electric cars into "virtual power plants" [9]. V2G technology refers to a bi-directional flow system operation, in which plug-in battery electric vehicles communicate with a recipient and allow the reciprocal flow between the EV and an electric grid [10,11]. Under this relatively new concept, electric cars would store and dispatch electrical energy stored in networked vehicle batteries which together act as one collective battery fleet ...