Electrical gearbox equivalent by means of dynamic machine operation

Abstract

A dynamic propulsion system using variable torque/speed characteristics, designed to realize a machine integrated equivalent of a gearbox is presented. This is achieved through adaption of the machine characteristics, and driven by specialized power electronics, leading to a reconfigurable stator coil arrangement. The concept can for example be used to minimize the overall weight of an electric vehicle (EV) powertrain, and to allow for flexible, fault-tolerant operation of the machine and power electronics. The dynamic machine operation is explained for various torque/speed combinations, and a number of power electronics solutions to execute the principle is proposed. Simulations of the topologies and fault operation are performed and a comparison is undertaken.