An enhanced performance IPT based battery charger for electric vehicles application

Abstract

World-wide scientists/engineers were motivated to research in the area of renewable energy resources and to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. Hence, electric and hybrid vehicles have won the attention of many researchers and vehicles manufacturers. Electric vehicle requires a charging system having a high degree of reliability and robustness and to run maintenance-free. This brings the inductive power transfer (IPT) systems to play a significant role in electric vehicle battery chargers applications. IPT system has proved its capability to be a safe, convenient, and efficient electric vehicle battery charger through its features, such as operating in a harsh environment, high efficiency at reasonable power levels, and decreasing equipment maintenance through operating without any mechanical contacts. This paper presents an enhanced performance IPT system, which is particularly suitable for electric vehicle battery charging application. The proposed system is slightly affected by the small tolerance between sender (track coil) and receiver (pickup coil). Relation between application, transformer configuration selection, and power converter controller is discussed in details. The proposed system effectiveness is investigated, in addition to simulation, by an experimental set-up.