Search

Climate change risks have triggered the international community to find efficient solutions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mainly produced by the energy, industrial, and transportation sectors. The problem can be significantly tackled by promoting electric vehicles (EVs) to be the dominant technology in the transportation sector. Accordingly, there is a pressing need to increase the scale of EV penetration, which requires simplifying the manufacturing process, increasing the training level of maintenance personnel, securing the necessary supply chains, and, importantly, developing the charging infrastructure. A new modular trend in EV manufacturing is being explored and tested by several large automotive companies, mainly in the USA, the European Union, and China. This modular manufacturing platform paves the way for standardised manufacturing and assembly of EVs when standard scalable units are used to build EVs at different power scales, ranging from small light-duty vehicles to large electric buses and trucks. In this context, modularising EV electric systems needs to be considered to prepare for the next EV generation. This paper reviews the main modular topologies presented in the literature in the context of EV systems. This paper summarises the most promising topologies in terms of modularised battery connections, propulsion systems focusing on inverters and rectifiers, modular cascaded EV machines, and modular charging systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The switched reluctance motor (SRM) has many merits, such as robustness, a simple construction, low cost, and no permanent magnets. However, its deployment in servo applications is restrained due to acoustic noise and torque ripple (TR). This paper presents a new torque control approach for TR reduction in switched reluctance drives. The approach is based on the maximum utilisation of the available dc-link voltage, hence extending the zero torque-ripple speed range. The approach is suitable for an SRM with any number of phases and stator/rotor poles. Soft switching control is deployed, which reduces switching losses. At any instant (regardless of the number of phases being conducted simultaneously), only one phase current is controlled. The well-established torque-sharing function concept is adapted and generalised to cater for more than two phases conducting simultaneously. MATLAB/Simulink confirmation simulations are based on the widely studied four-phase 8/6, 4 kW, 1500 rpm SRM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review of the most common power converters and torque ripple minimisation approaches for switched reluctance motors (SRMs). Unlike conventional three-phase AC motors, namely squirrel cage induction motors and permanent magnet synchronous motors, which require a typical three-phase inverter for operation, the switched reluctance motor requires a different topology power converter for reliable and efficient operation. In addition, due to the non-linear, discrete nature of SRM torque production, torque ripple is severely pronounced, which is undesirable in servo applications like electric vehicles. Hence, deploying a proper torque control function for smooth and quiet motor operation is crucial. This paper sheds light over the most popular SRM power converters as well as torque ripple minimisation methods, and it suggests an optimal SRM drive topology for EV applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]