A Study on Induction Motor Efficiency Improvement for Implementing in Electric Vehicle

Among various types of electric motor, selecting an induction motor for electric vehicle (EV) is still being discussed. Efficiency and weight of induction motor are two significant disadvantages compared to other motors. To solve these two concerns, this paper proposes a study to effectively improve induction motor efficiency and its power density. The stator winding of proposed three phase induction motor is rewound by decreasing number of turn and by increasing stator coil size. This proposed motor is suitable for EV driven by inverter in high speed operation which the rated power of this motor is approximately two times more than that of its original. As the results, the motor efficiency is improved since its total loss is slightly increased. In addition, as an increasing twice of rated motor power approximately with the same motor weight, the power density of the proposed motor is also enhanced. Three sizes of three-phase inductor motor including 0.75, 2.25, and 3.7 kW are tested to illustrate the proposed approach in this study.