Topology, design, analysis and thermal management of power electronics for hybrid electric vehicle applications

Abstract

Power electronics circuits play an important role in the success of electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. Typical power electronics circuits in hybrid vehicles include electric motor drive circuits and DC/DC converter circuits. Conventional circuit topologies, such as buck converters, voltage source inverters and bidirectional boost converters are challenged by system cost, efficiency, controllability, thermal management, voltage and current capability, and packaging issues. Novel topologies, such as isolated bidirectional DC/DC converters, multilevel converters, and Z-source inverters, offer potential improvement to hybrid vehicle system performance, extended controllability and power capabilities. This paper gives an overview of the topologies, design, and thermal management, and control of power electronics circuits in hybrid vehicle applications.