Modular Battery Charger for Light Electric Vehicles

Andrei Blinov, Ievgen Verbytskyi, Denys Zinchenko, Dmitri Vinnikov and Ilya Galkin
Additional contact information
Andrei Blinov: Department of Electrical Power Engineering and Mechatronics, Tallinn University of Technology, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia
Ievgen Verbytskyi: Department of Industrial Electronics, National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, 03056 Kyiv, Ukraine
Denys Zinchenko: Department of Electrical Power Engineering and Mechatronics, Tallinn University of Technology, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia
Dmitri Vinnikov: Department of Electrical Power Engineering and Mechatronics, Tallinn University of Technology, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia
Ilya Galkin: Faculty of Power and Electrical Engineering, Riga Technical University, LV1048 Riga, Latvia

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: Rapid developments in energy storage and conversion technologies have led to the proliferation of low- and medium-power electric vehicles. Their regular operation typically requires an on-board battery charger that features small dimensions, high efficiency and power quality. This paper analyses an interleaved step-down single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) operating in the discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) for charging of battery-powered light electric vehicles such as an electric wheelchair. The required characteristics are achieved thanks to favourable arrangement of the inductors in the circuit: the input inductor is used for power factor correction (PFC) without additional elements, while the other inductor is used to provide galvanic isolation and required voltage conversion ratio. A modular interleaved structure of the converter helps to implement low-profile converter design with standard components, distribute the power losses and improve the performance. An optimal number of converter cells was estimated. The converter uses a simple control algorithm for constant current and constant voltage charging modes. To reduce the energy losses, synchronous rectification along with a common regenerative snubber circuit was implemented. The proposed charger concept was verified with a developed 230 VAC to 29.4 VDC experimental prototype that has proved its effectiveness.

Keywords: AC-DC power converters; power factor correction; single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC); interleaved control; lithium-ion batteries battery chargers; land vehicles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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