ECE1049 - Special Topics in Energy Systems:
Electric Vehicle Systems & Energy Management
Fall 2023
Topic 2: Fundamental EV Concepts
ECE1049 – Special Topics in Energy Systems: Electric Vehicle Systems & Energy Management 1
Recall: EV Classification
Legend
Series Plug-In Hybrid EV • EM: Electric Motor
• ICE: Internal Combustion Engine
• Full electric drive • Gen.: Electric Generator
• Engine not mechanically • MC: Mechanical Coupling
coupled to wheel • Trans.: Transmission
• Small battery
Parallel Plug-In Hybrid EV
• Shared electric/engine drive
• Small battery
Battery EV
• Electric drive only
• Large battery
Garcia-Valle and Lopes, Electric Vehicle Integration into Modern Power Networks, 1st Edition
ECE1049 – Special Topics in Energy Systems: Electric Vehicle Systems & Energy Management 3
Ideal Energy Flow through a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)
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EV Modes of Operation
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Power Electronic Converters
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The Role of Power Electronics
There is no path to ‘Net Zero’ without power
electronics!
Source: Dr. Stefan Linder, Alpiq, 2022
ECE1049 – Special Topics in Energy Systems: Electric Vehicle Systems & Energy Management 7
Power Electronics Application Landscape
Industrial
Consumer
4 core functions:
AC-DC DC-DC
DC-AC AC-AC
Transportation Lighting
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Power Electronic Converters
EV Energy Sources: EV Loads:
• dc fast charger • Battery
• ac charging port • Motor (throttling)
• Battery • Instrumentation
• Motor (regeneration) • HVAC
Efficiency = Pout / Pin
Power Electronic Converter
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Power Electronics For Solar
High efficiency dc-to-dc and dc-to-ac converters are an integral part of PV energy harvesting
DC-AC
En-Phase DC-AC Micro-Inverter: TiGo DC-DC Micro-Converter:
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Power Electronics for High Efficiency Lighting
High efficiency ac-to-dc and dc-to-dc converters are an integral part of the LED revolution
Boost for LED Drive Floating Buck for LED Drive
Source: Maxim Source: Fang et. al,APEC’09
DC-DC
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Power Electronics for Wind
High efficiency ac-to-ac converters are an integral part of wind energy harvesting
Same operating principle as regenerative braking AC-AC
in EVs
Source: Voller et. al. cigre 2009
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Converters in HEVs and EVs
Nearly every car manufacturer is currently mass-producing hybrid electric vehicles (HEV)
Porsche Taycan Nissan Leaf Toyota Prius V
DC-AC
Source: Miller, et. al. APEC’03 Source: tm4.com
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Converter Design is Multidisciplinary
Tesla Model 3 Inverter
The Ideal Converter:
• Efficient
• Light/small
• Cheap
• Reliable
Expertise required in:
• Electrical power conversion
• Embedded control systems
• Heat transfer
• Materials (magnetics,
capacitors, thermal interface)
• Manufacturing
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Power Conversion Loss
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Lossy Energy Flow through a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)
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Vehicle Efficiency
Worldwide harmonised Light-duty vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP)
• Mission-profile determines
design parameters
• Every EV has a different
optimal energy conversion
efficiency range
• Driving efficiency not
necessarily the same!
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Power Semiconductors
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Power Semiconductors: The Next Frontier
New technologies are emerging to replace silicon (Si) power semiconductors:
- Silicon Carbide (already used Tesla and Lucid): most promising for TRACTION INVERTER
- Gallium Nitride (coming soon!): most promising for ON-BOARD CHARGER
New GaN and SiC devices can switch must faster than
Silicon devices and will enable SMALLER and MORE
EFFICIENT power converters in EVs
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Power Semiconductors: SiC Power Modules
State-of-the-art Wolfspeed SiC Power Module
Silicon Carbide (used in Lucid Air)
power module
unveiled by VW
Group in Sept. 2022
SiC transistors:
Copper substrate
(liquid cooled)
Integrated temperature
sensor
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Power Semiconductors of the Future: Gallium Nitride (GaN)
GaN Power Integrated Circuits (Designed @ UofT)
GaN Power Chips can integrate the Will enable higher performance EVs in
power transistors as well as control the future
and protection functions
on the same chip
M. S. Zaman et al., "Integrated SenseHEMT and Gate-Driver on a 650-V GaN-on-Si Platform Demonstrated in a Bridgeless Totem-pole PFC Converter," 2020 32nd International
Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICs (ISPSD), 2020, pp. 26-29, doi: 10.1109/ISPSD46842.2020.9170100.
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Power Semiconductors of the Future: Gallium Nitride (GaN)
- Gallium Nitride based EV On-Board Charger
- Presented by Infineon at the 2022 EPE
Conference
- 10 kW charger in 1 L of volume!
Thin profile liquid
cooling
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Heat Transfer Basics
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Heat (or the lack thereof) in EVs
Standard ICE Cooling System VW 282 HP Inverter/Motor System
<40% efficiency, <1kW/kg >80% efficiency, 5-10kW/kg
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Thermal Management
▪ Heat is a major limiting factor in EV performance
▪ Most batteries prefer room temperature
▪ Cabin heating/cooling is energy intensive
▪ Power semiconductor devices generate
concentrated heat
Source: Recurrent
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Heat Transfer and Temperature Modelling
▪ Modes of heat transfer:
1. Conduction
2. Convection
3. Radiation
▪ Heat conduction can be modelled as an electric circuit
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Heat Capacity
▪ Thermal energy storage
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Thermal Interfaces in EVs
Battery Pack Assembly Electric Heater
Source: CIE
Source: Henkel
Key challenge: maintain both high electrical resistance and low thermal resistance
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Phase-Change Materials for Battery Safety
Without PCM
With PCM
Stephen Wilke, Ben Schweitzer, Siddique Khateeb, Said Al-Hallaj, Preventing thermal runaway propagation in lithium ion battery packs using a phase change
composite material: An experimental study, Journal of Power Sources, Volume 340, 2017, Pages 51-59, ISSN 0378-
7753, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.11.018.
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Numerical Methods for ODE
From Najm, Circuit Simulation, Ch. 5.2, available online through UofT library portal
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Data and Simulations in EV Context
▪ Why collect data?
▪ On-board diagnostics
▪ Fleet management and performance analysis
▪ Input to future designs
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Data and Simulations in EV Context
▪ Why collect data?
▪ On-board diagnostics
▪ Fleet management and performance analysis
▪ Input to future designs
▪ EVs are a MASSIVE source of data
▪ Various components can sample voltage, current, temperature, torque, rotation, etc.
▪ Distributed sampling, i.e. samples are not always aligned in time or share sampling rate
▪ Data resampling (interpolation) is key: MATLAB interpn, numpy interp
Traditional vs. 'Converged' Comm. Architectures Networking Domains
Source: Teledyne Lecroy
Source: microcontrollertips.com
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