Narrow‐Width Single‐Phase Power Rail (I‐type)

In this chapter, an advanced version of on‐line electric vehicles (OLEVs) is introduced as an introductory example of road‐powered electric vehicles (RPEVs). Because the author is heavily involved in the development of OLEVs, this chapter will guide readers to how practical problems are dealt with. This chapter is based on the paper by J. Huh, S.W. Lee, W.Y. Lee, G.H. Cho, and C.T. Rim, “Narrow‐width inductive power transfer system for on‐line electrical vehicles,”
IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics
, vol. 26, no. 12, pp. 3666–3679, December 2011.The inductive power transfer system (IPTS) with a narrow rail width, a small pick‐up size, and a large airgap is explained, as an extension of previous research on OLEVs, in this chapter. By introducing a new core structure, the orientation of the magnetic flux alternates along with the road; hence, an inductive power transfer system with a narrow rail width of 10 cm, a large airgap of 20 cm, and a large lateral displacement of about 24 cm was implemented. The resonant circuit of the inductive power transfer system, driven by a current source, was fully characterized. The experimental results showed that the maximum output power was 35 kW and that the maximum efficiency was 74% at 27 kW.