POWER ELECTRONIC CONVERTER TOPOLOGIES USED IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES (original) (raw)

With the increasing interests on energy efficiency, energy cost, and environmental protection, the development of electric vehicles (EVs) technology has been obvious nowadays. Based on the air pollution regulations in the USA and Europe as well as a lot of countries in the world, the fossil-fueled vehicles have been targeted as the major source of emissions that create air po llution leading to the global warming crisis. The oil resources in the earth are limited and the new discoveries of it are at a slower pace than the increase in demand especially with the increase in the world population so that the need for alternatives is becoming crucial. The technologies involved in EVs are diversified and include electrical and electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, automotive engineering, and chemical engineering. EVs depend on which called electric propulsion, in which an electric motor is used to drive the vehicle instead of the internal combustion engine (ICE) and the energy sources are batteries, fuel cells, or capacitors instead of gasoline or diesel fuel in the conventional ICE vehicles. Thus, power electronics technology plays an important role in the electrical propulsion system in order to efficiently drive the electric motor of the vehicle and control the power converters and the associated electronic circuits. An overview of the current status of power electronic drives for EVs and recent research trends in EV motors, power converters, and energy storage systems will be discussed. Challenges associated with designing, controlling, and operating the power electronic converters used in EVs will be also discussed showing the latest achievements in this field. Challenges and problems associated with power electronic converters will be discussed also.