Switched Reluctance Motor Converters for Electric Vehicles Applications: Comparative Review

Through a comprehensive study of the power converters that have emerged previously for switched reluctance machine (SRM) drive systems, this article proposes an evaluation approach to determine the suitability of these converters for use in the SRM-based electric vehicle (EV) drive system. This evaluation reflects the relative differences of these converters in terms of their cost and their capability to offer the best technical performance for the drive system of EVs. From a technical viewpoint, four factors are considered as follows: the converter efficiency, the converter reliability, and the capability of the converter to reduce torque ripple and increase power productivity. A benchmark that consists of a number of converter characteristics is identified. The operation of the converters is analyzed to determine, in a quantitative way, their fulfillment of these characteristics. Expressions for the evaluation factors are proposed in terms of the converters’ characteristics. Accordingly, the converters are relatively scored to reflect their differences in cost and technical impact on the SRM drive system. The results provide a useful indication of the tradeoff between gaining some of the advantages and losing others for EV applications. In addition, they identify potentials for optimization based on the cost and the technical performance of different SRM converters.