Electric Vehicle Drive with Half Bridge Configuration based Bidirectional DC-DC Converter

With the potential to substantially reduce carbon emissions and pave the path for considerable climate progress, electric vehicles can transform the transportation sector for the better. But there are several significant obstacles that this developing sector must overcome. Charging time, charger compatibility, availability of charging infrastructure, renewable energy, grid capacity, power converters are some of these challenges. An efficient power conditioning system plays a significant role in the design of battery charging systems for electric vehicles. Every new vehicle that is released in the market has motors with improved efficiency and higher power density. This results in a higher input voltage to the drive motor. On the other hand, the batteries have a lower nominal voltage due to the need to connect the cell strings in parallel. This is necessary to improve the redundancy of the backup system and reduce problems related to charge imbalance. Therefore, a bidirectional DC-DC buck and boost converter is required between the motor/inverter and the battery. This DC-DC converter forms an important part of the electric vehicle power train. It manages the flow of power, transforms the voltage level of energy storage devices, and controls charge/discharge currents to maintain the state of energy storage devices. In this current work, a non-isolated bidirectional DC-DC converter with half-bridge configuration, operating in both directions, is considered. Converter and controller design and modelling are presented. The closed-loop operation of the converter is demonstrated when powering a DC motor during steady-state operation and during vehicle acceleration. Energy recovery during regenerative braking is also demonstrated. The effectiveness of the system is verified by simulation.