A Comparative Analysis of Power Converter Topologies for Integration of Modular Batteries in Electric Vehicles

This paper presents a comparative analysis between four proposed DC-DC power converter topologies, for integration of removable batteries into an electric vehicle (EV) that also has a primary energy storage system (ESS). To perform this analysis, first the minimum requirements for the converter are defined, such as volume, power density, and specific density, as well as the system operating condition. The comparison between the proposed topologies is done by evaluating three main aspects: efficiency, volume, and current ripples. The procedure consists of performing a steady-state analysis of each topology to obtain the main operating values and waveforms, validating the results and the proposed control strategies through simulations, calculating the losses for each converter, and estimating their volume. Different components are evaluated in each topology to perform a power loss analysis, considering several options of Si MOSFETs, transformers, and inductors.