Investigation on Multiphase Multistage Bidirectional DC-DC converter for Electric Vehicles using Virtual Vehicle Driving Platform

A lot of research advancements in commercialization of Electric Vehicles (EVs) have taken place, but, there are still concerns amongst many consumers regarding the mileage, due to lack of infrastructures. This can be addressed by using parallel cell connected battery packs, for higher storage capacity. However, this requires a DC-DC converter to satisfy the voltage requirements of the EV. Thus, a closed-loop bidirectional multiphase multistage DC-DC converter is proposed, which is also designed to store regenerative braking energy. This can be used to run auxiliary operations, resulting in more effective energy management. IPG CarMaker, a virtual vehicle dynamic software, is used to investigate the performance of the proposed design under dynamic load conditions. This is a safe and less costly approach, which also allows in studying the performance under conditions difficult to test on a prototype. The proposed design is found to perform significantly well and respond quickly to changes in the mode of operation. A good compromise is also achieved between voltage gain and number components under step-up and stepdown operations when compared to other designs in the literature. Thus, the use of the proposed DC-DC converter would lead to proper utilization of EV battery cells for increasing storage capacity and storing regenerative braking energy, resulting in reduced driver mileage anxiety and costs.