A Simulation Study of Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer for EV Charging Versus Regenerative Braking in a Caribbean Island

Dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) for electric vehicle (EV) charging is an emerging technology driven by the need to reduce current battery capacity limitations. DWPT has the potential to increase driving range as well as reduce charging time while managing battery related factors including weight, form factor and prohibitive costs. A novel integrated DWPT model for EV charging in Matlab/Simulink was developed to investigate three inductive power transfer (IPT) charging coil configurations: long loop, sectional loop and spaced loop at low, medium and high EV densities (number of EVs per km) in the Caribbean twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The Highway Fuel Economy Test (HWFET) driving cycle was applied. Simulations of regenerative braking and DWPT using three charging configurations at three levels of EV densities without regenerative braking were compared. The results revealed that the sectional loop and long loop charging configurations offered the greatest benefits; the sectional loop allowed for a 280.1% and 13.1% increase in driving range and a 68.75% and 9.5% reduction in battery capacity for the low and medium EV density cases respectively while the long loop configuration allowed for a 43.2% increase in driving range and 27.5% reduction in battery capacity for the high EV density case.