Impact of Silicon Carbide Devices on the Powertrain Systems in Electric Vehicles

Xiaofeng Ding, Jiawei Cheng and Feida Chen
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Xiaofeng Ding: School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Jiawei Cheng: School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Feida Chen: School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: The DC/DC converters and DC/AC inverters based on silicon carbide (SiC) devices as battery interfaces, motor drives, etc., in electric vehicles (EVs) benefit from their low resistances, fast switching speed, high temperature tolerance, etc. Such advantages could improve the power density and efficiency of the converter and inverter systems in EVs. Furthermore, the total powertrain system in EVs is also affected by the converter and inverter system based on SiC, especially the capacity of the battery and the overall system efficiency. Therefore, this paper investigates the impact of SiC on the powertrain systems in EVs. First, the characteristics of SiC are evaluated by a double pulse test (DPT). Then, the power losses of the DC/DC converter, DC/AC inverter, and motor are measured. The measured results are assigned into a powertrain model built in the Advanced Vehicle Simulator (ADVISOR) software in order to explore a direct correlation between the SiC and the performance of the powertrain system in EVs, which are then compared with the conventional powertrain system based on silicon (Si). The test and simulation results demonstrate that the efficiency of the overall powertrain is significantly improved and the capacity of the battery can be remarkably reduced if the Si is replaced by SiC in the powertrain system.

Keywords: DC/DC converters; DC/AC inverters; silicon carbide (SiC); electric vehicles (EV); powertrain system; battery (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: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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