Nonconventional on-board charger for electric vehicle propulsion batteries

TLDR

Electric vehicles are needed in densely populated urban areas to reduce air pollution, and battery chargers are required to supply DC voltage to high‑energy battery packs. The paper presents an on‑board battery charger that uses only the power components of the EV motor drive. The charger uses the motor drive’s power components and has been installed on an electric scooter prototype for Far East markets. The proposed solution meets desired features of minimum volume, low cost, high efficiency, and high reliability, as confirmed by design analysis and experimental results.

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are needed in densely populated urban areas to reduce air pollution. Battery chargers are needed to supply DC voltage to charge the high-energy battery parks used in EVs. This paper deals with an on-board battery charger arrangement that is fully based on the use of the power components of the EV motor drive. Desired features for EV battery chargers such as minimum volume, low cost, high efficiency, and high reliability are fully matched by means of the proposed solution. The proposed on-board charger arrangement has been installed on an electric scooter prototype being developed for the Far East markets. Design analysis and experimental results of the on-board charger prototype are presented.