A Review of DC-AC Converters for Electric Vehicle Applications

Abstract

This paper comprehensively reviews the current status of multidisciplinary technologies in electric vehicles. Because the electric vehicle market will expand dramatically in the coming few years, research accomplishments in power electronics technology for electric vehicles will be highly attractive. Challenges in power electronics technology for driving electric vehicles, charging batteries, and circuit topologies are being explored. This paper aims primarily to address the practical issues of the future electric vehicles and help researchers obtain an overview of the latest techniques in electric vehicles, focusing on power electronics-based solutions for both current and future electric vehicle technologies. In this work, different medium-and high-voltage DC-AC inverter topologies are investigated and compared in terms of power losses and component requirements. Recent research on electric vehicle power converters is also discussed, with highlighting on soft-switching and multilevel inverters for electric vehicle motor drives. In this paper, a methodical overview and general classification of DC-AC power converters are presented. In specific topologies, drawbacks such as voltage stresses on active switches and control complications may occur, which can make them difficult for immediate commercialization. However, various modified circuit topologies have been recommended to overcome these drawbacks and enhance the system performance.

Keywords

• DC-AC power converters
• electric vehicle
• methodical overview
• multi-level inverters
• resonant DC-link
• soft-switching