Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering, Vol.3, No.

3, December 2017

Configurations and Control of Traction Motors

for Electric Vehicles: A Review
Saqib Jamshed Rind 1, Yaxing Ren1, Yihua Hu1, Jibing Wang2, and Lin Jiang1*
(1. Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, The University of Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK;
2. Sicher Elevator Co., Ltd., Huzhou 313009, China)
Abstract: In recent decades, worldwide global warming and reduction in petroleum resources
have accelerated researcher’s attention to produce alternative sustainable and environmentally clean
transportation systems. Electrification of vehicular technology is capable of curbing the environmental
pollution problem in an efficient and effective way, due to high efficiency electric motors, development
and advancement in the field of power electronic devices, digital signal processing and advanced
control techniques. This article presents a comprehensive review on different configurations/
architecture of electric vehicles(EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles(HEVs), traction motors for electric
propulsion system and high performance speed sensorless control of traction drive. The basic
architecture key components of hybrid vehicle and different power train configurations with respect to
applications and limitations are discussed. The integral part of electric propulsion system, traction
motor classes for desired operational characteristics and limitations are summarized from a system
perspective with the latest improvements. High performance traction motor control techniques are
discussed with respect to automotive applications. Finally, speed sensorless control techniques research
trends as well as an extensive review on rotor speed estimation techniques for robust and efficient
sensorless traction drive control are highlighted. This article provides state of the art key global trends
and tradeoff of various technologies with future trends and potential areas of research.
Keywords: Electric vehicle architecture, vehicle powertrain configurations, traction motors,
traction drive control, motor sensorless control.

1 Introduction
Deterioration in air quality, global warming,
reduction in petroleum resources and different burning
questions regarding a pollution free healthy and clean
environment have led to focus the researcher’s attention
to produce energy efficient, emission free and enhanced
performance electrified transport systems. In developing
countries, the transportation sector is one of the main
causes of increasing harmful exhaust emissions in the
environment, especially in large cities[1-3]. In the United
States, 98% of the transportation energy comes from
the fossil fuels but most of it not efficiently utilized due
to low efficiency of internal combustion engine (ICE)
vehicles[4]. There are over 250 million and over
900 million fossil fuel based vehicles being driven
everyday in the United States and worldwide,
respectively[5] . The automotive industry is one of the
largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions today. The
successful accomplishment of research in this field
may prove an utmost significant step forward towards
the possibility of long driving range, enhanced
performance and cost competitive alternative energy
vehicle.
Vehicles can be classified into three main
categories: internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs),
hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and all-electric vehicles
(AEVs) or electric vehicles (EVs)[6-9]. Fig.1 illustrates
the basic classification of vehicle types. The major
* Corresponding Author, Email: L.Jiang@liverpool.ac.uk.
Fig.1 Classification of vehicles
operational characteristics and different economical
issues of these vehicles are summarized in Table 1 for
better comparative analysis[1, 10-12]. It can be understood
that the critical issue in battery electric vehicles(BEVs) is
battery packs and effective battery charging infrastructure.
Therefore, such vehicles are used for a short range and
low speed transportation purposes. However, HEVs
can provide better operational characteristics but the
relatively high cost is a major issue. Fuel cell electric
vehicles(FCEVs) have long term future potential in
electrified transport industry and its feasibility and
required operational performance are being investigated
by the technology developers.
Presently, EVs and HEVs are capable of curbing
the air pollution problem in an efficient and effective
way due to high efficiency electric motors, development
and advancement in the field of power electronic
devices, digital signal processing and advanced control
techniques[11,13-14]. Automobile manufacturing companies
like Toyota Motor Corporation, Aichi, Japan, and
Honda Motor Company Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, are the
 2 Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering, Vol.3, No.3, December 2017

Table 1 Different characteristics of ICEVs, BEVs, HEVs, PHEVs & FCEVs

Characteristics ICEVs BEVs HEVs PHEVs FCEVs
Propulsion
ICE based Electric motor based Electric motor & ICE Electric motor & ICE Electric motor based
System

Fuel cell
Battery Fuel tank Battery Fuel tank Battery
Battery
Energy storage Fuel tank Ultra capacitor Ultra capacitor Ultra capacitor
Ultra
Flywheel Flywheel Flywheel
capacitor
Electric charging Hydrogen cylinder
Energy source Electric power
Refueling station Electric charging facility station Hydrogen refiner
infrastructure Refueling station
Refueling station & refueling station
Ultra low emission
Zero emission High fuel efficient
Low emission Competent driving range
Fully commercialized Quite Lower emission
Higher fuel economy Highly efficient
Matured technology Smooth operation Extended electric
Long driving range Independency from
Advantages Better performance Energy efficient driving range
Reliable petroleum products
Simple operation Independency from V2G or G2V capability
Commercialized Reliable
Reliable petroleum product Quite and smooth
Durability Durable
Commercialized operation
High cost
Less efficient Complex system High complexity Slow dynamic response
Limited driving range
Harmful emission Costly Higher initial cost Not commercialized
Drawbacks Poor dynamic response
Poor fuel economy Bulky Battery technology Sophisticated electronic
High recharging time
Comparatively bulky Increased component Impact on grid controller
Charging station
Harmful emissions Size & weight of battery Size & weight of Cost of fuel cell
infrastructure
Fuel economy pack battery pack & ICE Infrastructure for hydrogen
Major issues Size & weight of
Dependency on petroleum Infrastructure for charging Integration of conditioning, storage and
battery pack & ICE
products station components refilling system
Impact on grid

pioneers in commercializing HEVs[15]. At present,
almost all major automobile manufacturers are
producing EVs and HEVs, but each manufacturer has
targets to make cost effective, highly efficient and
reliable vehicle with less fuel consumption and produce
a sustainable alternative transportation system for the
next generation[16].
The U.S. Department of Energy has outlined the
cost and power density targets for electric traction
motor drives to reduce the cost of the system and to
establish and encourage large-scale production in the
market. In 2020, electric traction system cost should
meet less than US$8/kW with a specific power greater
than 1.4kW/kg and 4kW/L. Moreover, the peak
efficiency is expected to be greater than 94% under
aggressive cooling specifications[4]. The production
and customer demand for EVs are increasing every
year as Fig.2 shows while the sales growth of plug in
HEVs across the world in the last few years.
The aim of this paper is to present a review on
different state of the art powertrain configurations of
EV/HEV, traction motors and their use in the electrified
transport industry. One of the main sources of
concentration of this paper is sensorless control
techniques, used for high dynamic performance
applications such as EVs and HEVs. This paper is
organized as follows: Section 2 and 3 provide present
research trends and comparison of advantages and
disadvantages of different powertrain configuration for
EVs/HEVs and traction motor technologies respectively.
Section 4 explains the high performance motor control
techniques as well as an overview of Sensorless control
techniques and existing high torque with low speed
performance issue in EVs. Finally Section 5 highlights
the present problems and future challenges and is
followed by the conclusion in Section 6.
2 Vehicle powertrain configurations
2.1 Hybrid electric vehicles
HEV is a multidisciplinary field[1,14]. The basic
architecture of HEV is shown in Fig.3[18]. The primary
source of electricity generation in the EVs is varied
ranging from fossil fuels to the renewable energy
sources such as solar energy[19-20]. Selection and size of
electric motor is critically important for the fuel
economy and the dynamic performance of HEV drive
that is usually expressed by hybridization factor (HF):
PEM P
HF   EM (1)
PEM  PICE PHEV

Fig.2 Sales growth of Plug in HEVs across the world in the last few years [17]
 S. J. Rind et al.: Configurations and Control of Traction Motors for Electric Vehicles: A Review
Fig.3 Basic architecture components of
hybrid electric vehicle
where PEM, PICE and PHEV are the maximum output
power of electric motor, IC engine and total reactive
power respectively. HF is 0 for conventional vehicle
while 1 for pure EV. One study has shown HF improves
the vehicle fuel economy and dynamic performances
up to a critical optimum point. This critical optimal
point is usually in between 0.3 and 0.5 depending on
the total vehicle power. Beyond this critical optimum
point, further increasing the electric propulsion system
capacity does not provide additional satisfactory
performance[21]. Automobile manufacturers are producing
different kinds of HEVs to improve the vehicle fuel
economy and efficiency. Classification of HEVs with
respect to HF are [20, 22]; Micro-HEV (HF＜0.1),
Mild-HEV (HF＜0.25), Power-assisted HEV (0.25＜
HF＜0.5) and Plug-In HEV (HF＞0.5).
Presently, there are three configurations of HEVs
series, parallel and series-parallel/split power as shown
in Fig.4[13-14, 6]. The purpose of HEV configurations is
(a) Series-HEV
(b) Parallel-HEV
(c) Series-Parallel HEV
Fig.4 Different powertrain configurations of HEVs
3
to achieve the optimal speed-torque characteristic from
the electric power train and to meet the operational
constraints such as initial acceleration, gradability
and maximum cruising speed with minimum power
requirement[2].
2.1.1 Series HEV system
Series HEV system has the simplest propulsion
power flow mechanism among all three configura-
tions[1]. Total required torque to propel the vehicle is
provided by the traction motor only. However, ICE is
used to charge the battery pack and usually operated at
its optimal efficiency point with low fuel consumption.
ICE turns on/off with respect to the state of charge of
the battery and maintains the battery charge around
65% to 75%[23]. This drive train can be operated in
different modes such as pure electric and pure engine
mode, hybrid mode, regenerative braking mode, engine
traction and battery charging mode and hybrid battery
charging mode.
Absence of clutch and reduction gear provide
simplification in power train design. This architecture
is suitable for short trip stop/go traffic and more
applicable for city driving[14,18,23-24]. Smaller size of
ICE operates the generator only but larger battery pack
& traction motor size make this configuration more
expensive than parallel[8]. Speed and torque features are
controlled through the electric motor directly, which
provides nearly ideal speed-torque characteristic[8,16, 24-26].
There is a significant amount of energy loss in this
configuration when the energy is converted twice from
engine-generator to power converter and further to
traction motor[16,23,27-28]. Use of generator increases the
weight as well as cost of the system[8]. Potential bene-
fits and current issues of series HEVs are summarized
in Table 2[1,8,11-12,29]. Series HEVs are used in heavy
commercial vehicles such as military vehicles, buses
and even locomotives[16] , because the bulky motor/
generator system can be easily accommodated in the
large vehicles.
2.1.2 Parallel HEV system
In this configuration both engine and traction
motor are connected in parallel to regulate and blend
the power transfer into the wheels as shown in Fig.4(b).
Quick torque response can be achieved at different load
conditions through traction motor[16] and its operation
alone is preferred at low speed and ICE is operated
alone at high speed operation[30].
Table 2 Characteristics of the series hybrid configuration
Optimized efficient traction drive line
Simple power transfer mechanism
Small size engine utilization
Characteristics
Small engine with space packaging advantages
Optimized efficient power plant
Possible zero emission operation
Large traction motor drive
Disadvantages
Multiple energy conversions and energy loss
system
High cost due to additional generator
MercedesCitaro bus and MAN-Lions City Hybrid bus
System TEMSAAvenue Hybrid bus
applications Tesla ultra light rail
New Tesla buses
 4 Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering, Vol.3, No.3, December 2017

It utilizes the smaller size of ICE and electric

motor in order to achieve better dynamic performance
and provides the overall system compactness[1,14,16].
Different operational modes can be activated through
both electric motor and ICE. Potential benefits and
current issues of parallel HEVs are summarized
in Table 3[1,8,11-12,29]. It has fewer energy conversions
and hence, lower energy loss compared to series
configurations[23,31-32]. This configuration has been used
in small vehicles due to its compact characteristic such Fig.5 View of planetary gear system[12]
as Honda insight, Honda civic and Ford Escape, etc[16, 33].
A general comparison of series and Parallel HEV A smaller size and highly efficient engine can be
powertrain is shown in Table 4[12]. used to have more efficient cycles and can be operated
in the configurations yet expensive due to the
2.1.3 Series-parallel HEV system additional electric generator and planetary gear,
This configuration blends the features of both although still many auto makers are using this
series and parallel hybrid system into one with charge configuration in order to get the better dynamic
sustaining capability[14,16,31] and decoupling of power as performance and high cruising speed for their
shown in Fig.4(c). This configuration has two further vehicles[14,16,35]. Greater flexibility in the control design
classifications: electric intensive and engine intensive[23]. can lead the better fuel economy with less emissions.
Toyota Prius is the first commercially available hybrid
Table 3 Characteristics of the parallel hybrid vehicle used series-parallel configuration developed by
configuration the Japanese researchers from Equs Research[18, 36-37].
Zero emission operation possible One of the demanding factors and prominent advantage
High efficiency due to the absence of multi of this configuration is to increase the vehicle power
conversion of power
Characteristics Two power sources for better high speed capability for a given transmission[23]. Features of the
cruising capability series- parallel HEVs are shown in Table 5[1,9,11-12, 29].
No additional generator and small size of traction
motor 2.2 Pure electric vehicles
Control complexity
Disadvantages Expensive system All electric vehicle or pure electric vehicle is the
Complex space packaging vehicle uses only electric power for its propulsion
Honda insight system. Components arrangement of motor (M),
System
applications
Ford Escape Hybrid SUV differential (D), fixed gear (FG) and gear box (GB)
Lexus Hybrid SUV
make different six kinds of EV powertrain configura-
Table 4 General comparison of series and tions as shown in Fig.7[7-8].
parallel HEV powertrain configuration[12]
Table 5 Characteristics of the series-parallel hybrid
Typical power Electric Relative fuel
Architecture
System
requirement Fraction economy gain configuration
voltage/V
/kW (%) (%)
Improved vehicle power capability
Parallel 14, 42, Better dynamic performance and high cruising speed
3~40 5~20 5~40 Characteristics
configuration 144, 300 Better fuel economy with less emissions
Zero emission operation possible
216, 274
Series
300, 350 ＞50 100 ＞75
configuration Very expensive system
550, 900
Disadvantages Control complexity
Complex drive train configuration
An electric intensive configuration shows that the
traction motor operation is more active than the ICE for Nissan experimented
Systems
Fiat experimented
propulsion and vive versa[31,34]. At lower RPMs, an applications
Toyota Prius
electric motor can provide maximum amount of torque
at standstill condition to complement the deficiency of
engine torque at lower RPMs[23, 30]. Planetary gear box
connects both motors and ICE as shown in Fig.5. The
speed of the engine can be adjusted by varying the
speed of the generator. T1, T2, T3 are the torques, 1,
 2,  3 are the gear speed, R1, R2, R3 are the radii of the
gear and the relation can be expressed as [12]:
R1 R
3  1  2 2 (2)
2 R3 2 R3

2 R3 2R
T3  T1  3 T2 (3)
R1 R2 Fig.6 Protean electric in-wheel motor assembly [41]
 S. J. Rind et al.: Configurations and Control of Traction Motors for Electric Vehicles: A Review 5

These configurations are similar for both in BEVs

and FCEVs. Fuel cells can be either the main energy
supply or secondary depending on the requirement and
technology required region of brake specific fuel
consumption map that provides high level of efficiency
to the vehicle[1] , although this is relatively more
complicated than the current technology. In Fig.7(a)
electric propulsion replaces the ICE of conventional
vehicle drive train. The gearbox controls the speed-
power (torque) profile to match the load requirement.
In Fig.7(b) by removing the clutch and replacing the
gear box with fixed gearing, only reduces the size and
weight of the mechanical transmission, it also simplifies
the drive train control.
Fig.7(c) configuration is similar to the drive train
in 7(b) and is most commonly used by modern EVs.
Fig.7(d) shows the dual motor configuration in which
two motors are operated at different speed in the
curved path and provide the differential features. In
order to reduce the mechanical transmission, the
electric motor can be placed inside the wheel as shown
in Fig.7(e). This arrangement is also called in wheel
drive configuration. Requirement of the compact
propulsion system eliminates the use of reduction gears
and mechanical differential in drive line by placing a
Fig.7 Different powertrain configurations of pure EVs [8]
direct-drive motor at the exact location where the
torque is required[38]. Direct drive-in-wheel motor In-wheel motors arrangement could potentially
arrangement as shown in Fig.7(f) for EVs simplifies use up to 96% of generated energy. Fig.6 illustrates a
the mechanical layout. Elimination of reduction gear complete assembly of the Protean In-wheel motor,
and mechanical differential not only reduces the integrated with its drive electronics[41]. In-wheel
number of drive line components, energy loss in motors designed for the EVs are discussed as potential
transmission, maintenance and weight but also improve motor designs[40]. However, the present challenge in the
the overall system reliability and efficiency[39]. This gearless direct-wheel motor drive system is to reduce
gearless wheel motor drive system is used for high the weight and size of the machine with suitable
torque and low speed applications[40]. trade-off of machine power.

3 Classification of traction motors

3.1 Traction motor classifications & powertrain
requirements
Traction motor plays an utmost significant role in
the development of electrified transport industry. The
electric propulsion system is an integral part of EVs
(a)
and HEVs[14]. Fig.8 illustrates different kinds of AC
and DC traction motors. After the advancements in the
power electronic switching devices, now a third class
in ac machines is also introduced that is electronically
commutated machines (ECM)[42-45].

(b)

Fig.8 Different AC and DC traction motors for

(c) EVs and HEVs
 6 Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering, Vol.3, No.3, December 2017

ECM is usually associated with two main types: Table 7 Adopted traction motors in EVs and
brush-less DC motors (BLDC) and switch reluctance HEVs application
motor (SRM)[8,42]. Machines under this category operate Make Model Traction Motor
on the principle of DC machines but with inverter Honda EV Plus DC Motor
based commutations rather than the mechanical Holden Ecommodore SRM
commutation. Cross section views of main traction Nissan Tino,Leaf,Altra PMSM
Honda Insight,Accord,Civic PMSM
motor technologies IM, PMSM and SRM are shown in Toyota Prius C & V PMSM
Fig.9. Motor design optimization, advancement in Toyota Highlander,Avalon PMSM
material sciences & electronics and new developed Toyota Camry PMSM
control techniques offer new motor types with high Ford Fusion SE Hybrid PMSM
efficiency and reliability for different applications[44]. Ford C Max Hybrid SEL PMSM
Hyundai Blueon PMSM
The latest research & development trends in Chevrolet Volt & Energi PMSM
motors show the researcher focus on less expensive Renault Kangoo IM
materials for laminations and cores in order to avoid Chevrolet Silverado IM
expensive rare earth magnets[10]. To resolve this Daimler Chrysler Durango IM
Tesla Roadster IM
problem, development and refinement of less expensive
Honda Fit EV IM
magnets such as Alnico and Ferrite for PM-motors are Toyota Reva4 IM
under research. However, to improve the operational REVA NXR IM
performance of PM-motors with smaller and less Ford Focus Electric IM
expensive magnets like Alnico and Ferrite is another Ford Transit Connect IM
GM EV1 IM
issue of design and development. Research in materials
BMW X5 IM
may significantly contribute in reduction of motor
losses and overall efficiency improvement. Table 6 ● Type of traction motor and motor control technique.
shows the motor parts contribution with respect to the ● Maximum capabilities of speed-torque characteris-
cost and weight[10]. tics and range of system voltage and current levels;
Study has shown that the optimal speed-torque ● Number of traction motor drives and single or
characteristic with operational constraints such as multiple speed transmission in the hybrid system;
initial acceleration, gradability and maximum cruising ● Type of electrical energy storage devices and
speed with minimum power requirement can be maximum energy & power capabilities;
achieved if the power train is entirely operated in ● Battery charger and charging mechanism etc.
constant power region. However, the entire drive There are different kinds of traction motors
operation in constant power is not practical. Therefore available in the market today but the selection of any
the operation in extended constant power is possible specific motor for the electric propulsion system
with appropriate design and proper selection of motor depends on its simple structure, ruggedness, lightweight,
control technique[47]. Applications of different traction small volume, low cost, easy and flexible electric drive
motors in commercially available EVs and HEVs are control, fault tolerance capability, low acoustic noise
shown in Table 7[48 -50]. level, better starting torque feature, high efficiency
The selection of electric propulsion system is and high power density, constant torque and constant
based on several factors including, vehicle constraints, power regions over a wide speed range, fast and quick
driver’s operational demands and type of energy torque response and operational reliability on different
sources[1,8,33,51-52]. In order to design the electric vehicle driving conditions[1,8,14]. Moreover, the motor selection
power train, following points should be considered[1, 8]: criteria includes the degree of market acceptance
which depends on the comparative availability and cost
of its associated power converter technology. In experts
opinion the performance grading of these major
traction motors are shown in Table 8 where 1 shows
Table 8 Traction motor performance evaluation
Motor characteristics DC IM PMSM SRM
(a) IM-induction (b) SRM-switch (c) PM-Brushless Power density 2.5 4 5 3.5
motor reluctance motor motor Efficiency 2.5 4 5 4.5
Controllability 5 5 4 3
Fig.9 Cross section view of main traction motor
Reliability 3 5 4 5
technologies[46]
Robustness 3 5 4 5
Torque density 3 4 5 4
Table 6 Cost and weight contribution of Speed range 2.5 4 4.5 4.5
motor parts [10] Required maintenance 3 4 4 4
Electric motor parts Cost (%) Weight (%) Torque ripple/noise 3.5 4.5 4.5 3
Over load capability 3 4 4 4
Motor core/lamination 45 55 Technical maturity 5 4.5 4 3.5
Copper 10 15 Life time 3.5 5 4 4.5
Size and weight 3 4 5 4
Magnets 20 5
Cost 4 5 3 4
Housing and cover 20 25 Total 46.5 62 60 56.5
 S. J. Rind et al.: Configurations and Control of Traction Motors for Electric Vehicles: A Review
the lowest and 5 shows the highest grade[10,14,53-54] .
Different performance characteristics are graded
between one and five in which IM & PMSM are
the main stream in EVs and HEVs for traction
applications nowadays.
3.2 DC motors
In the past, because of the technical and
economical incentives, dc electric motors have been
adopted and used to be the most prominent choice of
most EVs and HEVs manufacturers[14,25] . Simple
speed control mechanism, technological maturity,
relatively low cost of manufacturing as compared to
other electromechanical conversion devices, and better
speed regulation were the main reasons to justify the
substantial use of dc motors in the electrified
transport industry[8,14] .
However, the use of commutators and brushes
makes the operation of dc motors less reliable and
unsuitable for maintenance-free operation as well as
high speed applications such as EVs and HEVs.
In addition, electromagnetic interference due to
commutator action, bulky construction, low efficiency,
low reliability and also winding-excited DC motors have
low specific power density[53-57]. Both compactness in
the overall traction drive and high relative efficiency
have major significance in the evolution of electrified
transport industry[8,14].
3.3 Induction motors
Induction motor is one of the widely accepted
choice in traction motors due to its key characteristics
and high dynamic performance[8,14,42,54,56,58] . The
constant power range of IMs can be extended 4-5
times the base speed which is generally required for
traction purpose[2,46] . However, the high speed and
constant power range operation is limited due to its
pullout torque[10] . Fig.10 illustrates the typical speed-
torque characteristics of IM and variable variations
with rotor speed.
IM disadvantages include high losses, poor
power factor and low efficiency [4,10] . Moreover, its
weight and volume is greater than PM-motor at same
power ratings. In inverter fed IM, by appropriate choice
of supply voltage and frequency, both starting torque
as high as maximum and low starting current can be
Fig.10 IM-characteristics and variation of
variables with speed
7
achieved while the high efficiency operation can be
obtained by minimum slip control[46,59] . In IM, rotor
copper losses are dependent on motor slip which is
directly proportional to the rotor frequency and rotor
voltage which means higher the slip hence, higher the
rotor copper losses. High efficiency IMs are designed
to operate with less than 3% slip that gives less rotor
core losses than stator[4]. Efficiency of IM is maximum
when iron loss and copper loss both are similar[46] .
High efficiency during the whole operation is an
important issue in the traction drive. This efficient
operation of motor depends on the use of optimal flux
level that varies directly with the torque and inversely
with the motor speed [60] . If optimal flux control
technique is applied, a significant efficient motor
operation can be achieved at different loads both in
constant power and torque region[61] . Moreover, apart
from the maximum efficiency, this optimal flux
control also contributes to reduce the acoustic noise
which is, in general increases both with the load and
flux level[62] .
In order to improve the IM drive efficiency, some
control techniques devoted to HEV applications have
been proposed in[63-64] . Multi-phase pole-changing IM
drive for traction application has been proposed in
[65-66] for extended constant power operation without
over sizing the motor. Another approach uses the dual
inverters to improve the constant power region
operation[66] . However, IM dominance is challenged by
PMSM due to high power density, high efficiency and
less rotor losses. Notwithstanding, use of PMSMs are
limited and restricted for high performance applications
due to their high cost and limited ratings. Extensive
reviews on machine configurations and drives for
electric vehicles are presented in [11, 14,46].
3.4 PM-synchronous motors
PM synchronous motor is becoming a good
competitor of IMs in different applications including
EVs and HEVs. PMSM traction features are being
applied in most of the currently available HEVs and
EVs in the market including Toyota Prius (motor 60 kW,
generator 42kW), Chevy Volt (motor 110kW, generator
55kW), and Nissan Leaf (80kW)[4] . PM excitation
offers high power density as well as reduced weight
and volume of the motor for given power rating. It
provides high efficient operation due to the reduced
rotor losses. Compact packaging, high degree of
reliability, efficient heat dissipation into environment
are the other key features[10] . However, careful design
and proper location arrangement of the high-energy
and high-coercivity rare earth magnets may provide
significant amount of reluctance torque along with
improved power capability[4] . In synchronous motors
brushless dc motor (BLDC) is the most prominent
candidate for EVs and HEVs applications[67] . The
major characteristics of BLDC include:
● High efficiency and compactness due to the use of
high energy permanent magnets for excitation[29, 54].
● Ease of cooling due to the absence of rotor current
circulation and only heating part is stator [29] .
● Low maintenance, great longevity and reliability
 8 Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering, Vol.3, No.3, December 2017
due to the absence of brushes and mechanical
commutators[8, 67] .
● Low noise emissions since there is no mechanical
brushes or slip rings required [8,29] .
The BLDC drives have the highest efficiency in
all motors available today[68-69] . However, some
disadvantages associated to the BLDC motor drive
include, high cost, short constant power range due
to limited field weakening capability, safety concerns
due to very strong rare earth magnets, magnets
demagnetization and poor high speed capability[8,29] .
Moreover, at very high speed operation, the efficiency
of the motor may drop due to the risk of PMs
demagnetization[14,70]. These PMs are very temperature
sensitive and coercivity of neodymium iron boron
(NdFeB) magnets changes and drops rapidly as
the temperature increases that affects the motor
performance[4] .
PMs can be categorized into three main groups
i.e alnico, ferrite, and rare-earth magnets. Market of
PMs splits approximately 2:1 between neodymium
and hard ferrite magnets with cost proportion of more
than 25:1. Alnico magnets exhibit high remanent
magnetic induction Br and can bear high temperature
operation. However, these can be easily demagnetized
due to low coercive field Hc. Neodymium-iron-boron
magnets NdFeB are the most popular and powerful
magnet used in electric machines. However, ferrites are
inexpensive and easy to produce and available around
one-third of the PMs. Ferrite magnets are the best
candidate to replace the NdFeB magnet in rare earth
free motors for EVs[71] . Table 9 shows some of the
most important physical properties of PMs. Each
magnet has different compositions and each property
has a range of values. A comprehensive overview on
rare-earth free electric motors used for electric
propulsion purpose is discussed in [71] .
However, BLDC motor is subject to a variety of
failures, which may occur during its operation. BLDC
fault tolerant motor drive system has two main tasks:
1) detection and identification of fault 2) strategies to
recover from the fault[72]. Lots of research has been done
in the field of BLDC motor fault diagnosis and detection.
Detecting dynamics eccentricity in BLDC motors under
varying speed operation through analytic wavelet trans-
form has been presented in [73]. Some researchers have
used neural network and fuzzy system for fault diagnosis
of BLDC motors[74-75]. To make BLDC motor fault
tolerance inherently through the design features was
discussed in [76]. The speed range and efficiency can be
improved by controlling the power electronic converter
Table 9 Physical properties of PM materials[71]
Property Alnico
Residual inductionBr/T 0.7~ 1.28
Coercitive forceHc/(kA/m) 37 ~ 143
Max.energy product (BH)max/(KJ/m3) 10.7 ~ 71.6
−6
Electric resistivity ρ/(Ωcm) (50 ~ 75)×10
Max service Temperature Tmax/℃ 450 ~ 550
Density d/(g/cm3) 6.8 ~ 7.3
conduction angle above to base speed. The speed range
may be extended three to four times over the base speed.
3.5 Switch reluctance motors
In ECM category, SRM is getting considerable
attention from researchers in the last few years for
EVs and is being highlighted more as a good competitor
of other machines in high dynamic performance
applications[14, 1, 77, 54] . SRMs salient poles or teeth
on stator and rotor are potentially important in
their operation and these stator/rotor pole number
combinations are usually quoted to express the device
e.g. 6/4,8/6 SRM[42] . Moreover, the stator poles are
generally parallel-sided and carry a concentrated coil
as shown in Fig.11. SRMs have utmost significant
potential key features for electric vehicle propulsion
system over IMs and PMSMs including high relia-
bility, high operating temperature tolerance, high speed
range, suitable for gearless operation and ease of
manufacturing[78] . Constant power operation can be
extended up to 6~7 times of the base speed[47] . SRM
high speed performance mainly depends on rotor pole
design and needs some compromise between constant
power and constant torque capabilities[46]. Although,
the maximum efficiency of SRMs are slightly lower
than the PMSM but still maintains the efficiency over a
wide speed and torque range than the other type of
motors. Due to these attractive key features, SRMs have
been adopted by many automobile companies[79-81] .
The design and operational key characteristics of
using SRMs are well explained in [82-83] and some of
these features are:
● Simple robust rotor structure without using of
magnets or windings, that is more desirable for the
high speed applications and relatively easy to cool
and insensitive to high temperature environment.
● Relatively low cost machine.
● High speed and wide constant power capabilities
with minimal effects of temperature variations
offsets.
(a) 6/4 SRM (b) 8/6 SRM
Fig.11 Some common SRM configurations [46]
Samarium cobalt Neodymium
Ferrites (Ceramics)
1~5 and 2~17 alloys Nd(Pr,Dy)(Fe,Co,Hf)B
0.23 ~ 0.41 0.83~ 1.16 1.00~1.41
50 ~ 290 48 ~ 840 760~1030
8.35 ~ 31.8 130 ~ 240 220 ~366
160×10−6
6 −6
10 (53 ~ 86)×10
800 300 ~ 350 150
4.9 8.4 7.4
 S. J. Rind et al.: Configurations and Control of Traction Motors for Electric Vehicles: A Review
SRMs design and control are usually difficult and
subtle due to heavy saturation of pole tips and the
fringe effect of pole and slots[8] . The acoustic noise,
torque ripple and vibration are the main challenges in
these motors at high speed since operation is based on
sequential excited diametrically opposite stator coils.
At low speed, acoustic noise is predominantly due to
the resonances induced by the torque ripples, and may
be reduced by the appropriate profiling of phase
current waveforms[46] . At high rotational speed, this
noise is due to the radial vibration resonances[84] .
Several methods have been proposed in order to
reduce the vibration and acoustic noise during the
operation. The most effective and appropriate way is
to apply a relatively thick stator yoke which increases
the mechanical stiffness and reduces the vibration
response[85-86] .
Supply voltage reduction is also helpful in order
to reduce the acoustic noise at light load condition.
SRMs can have significantly lower noise level when it
is operated under voltage control rather than current
control. Since, current controller random switching
may result in a wide-band harmonic spectra, thus
increases the induced mechanical resonances[86-87] .
The acoustic noise emissions and vibration can be
reduced by employing the hybrid excitation method
with a C-dump inverter as proposed in [88]. This
torque ripple and acoustic noise problem can be
effectively reduced to an acceptable degree by the
field reconstruction technology developed at the Texas
A&M University [16] .
These motors usually require special converter
topology and have, excessive bus current ripple.
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise generation
are some other disadvantages of such motors[54] . Motor
high speed operation may cause high mechanical losses
because of aerodynamics drag and viscosity losses.
However, these mechanical losses can be reduced by
optimally designed rotor shape[16] . Constant power
range more than four times the base speed with
improved power factor, presented for 8/6 motor
experimentally. SRM 6/4, 8/6 design methodology for
high speed capabilities and potential application for
EVs are presented in [47].
4 Control of traction motors
Fast and quick torque response is the most
significant and main characteristic of high dynamic
performance traction drive. A well-controlled electric
motor drive includes two distinguishable operating
regions: constant torque and constant power region.
Fig.12 illustrates the typical torque/power-speed
characteristic required from the traction motors for
EVs & HEVs. The maximum torque capability in
constant torque region is determined through the
inverter current rating, while flux weakening or
constant power region is employed due to inverter
current and voltage limits. In the last region both
torque and power reduce due to the increasing
influence of back electromotive force (Back-EMF)[46].
The extended constant power operation is important for
9
Fig.12 Typical speed-torque characteristics of
EVs & HEVs from electric traction motor
both vehicle initial acceleration and cruising operation
and requires less acceleration power [2] . The required
key characteristics from electrical machines for traction
purpose include the following:
● Quick and fast torque response as well as high
power density[8, 14] .
● High torque at low speed for starting & climbing as
well as high power for cruising [1,46] .
● High efficiency over the wide speed range with
constant torque and constant power regions[14, 46] .
● Overload capability, typically twice the rated
motor torque for short durations[8, 89] .
● Small size, reduced weight, lower moment of inertia,
acceptable cost as well as high reliability & robustness
for different vehicle operating conditions[8, 46] .
Moreover, in case of faulty operation, the
traction motor drive should be fault tolerant[90] . The
idea of fault tolerant traction drive control is the
capability of drive to operate in the satisfactory
manner after sustaining a fault[91] .
4.1 Control methods
At present, high performance speed & torque
control techniques are classified into two main
categories[42, 92] : Vector control (VC) and Direct torque
control (DTC). In the last decade, the advent of
medically inspired Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques
are now also being getting more potential significance
in the implementation of enhanced high performance
electric drive control. These techniques include, namely
fuzzy logic control (FLC), artificial neural network
(ANN), genetic algorithms (GAs), and adaptive neuro-
fuzzy inference system (ANFIS)[43,92-93]. A new electric
drive control technique, called brain emotional learning
based intelligent controller (BELBIC) reported in [94].
The control mechanism and decision making are
mainly based on brain emotion process mechanism.
This BELBIC governs simple structure with good
self-learning characteristic and independent of motor
parameters information for self-performance.
VC method provides the better response of motor
over a wide speed range with very high torque at zero
speed that is the most important characteristic for
traction drive. Performance of the VC method depends
on the accurate monitored value of instantaneous flux
linkage space vector magnitude and angle during the
operation. However, the incorrect determination of
 10 Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering, Vol.3, No.3, December 2017
magnitude and angle may lose the decoupling of
machine torque and flux, resulting in degradation in
steady state and transient operation[95]. Two main
variants of VC direct and indirect methods are almost
equally good for EVs/HEVs applications but the
major difference is between VC and DTC.
In DTC optimal inverter switching, both instan-
taneous electromagnetic torque and flux linkages are
kept in the hysteresis band to get the fast torque
response, low harmonic losses and low inverter
switching frequency. However, DTC electric drive
system suffers from the low speed flux and torque
estimation and control, high current and torque ripples.
These torque ripples generates vibration, resulting
DTC application less demanding for automotive
applications. DTC operation could be considered for
integrated starter alternator (ISA) applications as a
motor in cranking mode. Since ISA operation time as
a starter is short and in the steady state, it mostly
operates as an alternator. Traction drive used for BEVs
or for pure EVs, propel the vehicle both in the
dynamic and steady state operation. Therefore, DTC
is not a preferred choice due to its torque ripples and
made VC more suitable for BEVs or pure EVs [96] .
4.2 Sensorless control of traction motors
Intensive research activities have been devoted to
the sensorless methods in order to achieve high
performance control of electric motors. Particularly,
in direct-drive wheel motor configuration of EVs,
rotor position/speed sensor that is normally required
for vector control often cannot be accommodated due
to reliability concerns or physical constraints[38].
Therefore, sensorless traction drive control strategy is
used for high performance control. Advantages of
such sensorless control techniques are:
● Reduce the cost of transducer and hardware
complexity which provide more compactness with
less maintenance[42, 95] .
● Increase the system noise immunity and suitability
Fig.13 Different rotor speed estimation techniques for sensorless control
for the hostile environment including temperature
variations[42-43] .
● Improve the overall system reliability and robustness
In general, speed estimation techniques are
classified into two major categories; Signal Injection
(SI) and estimation techniques based on machine
fundamental model[42,95] . Fig.13 shows different rotor
speed estimation techniques for sensorless control.
Over the past few years, there are several rotor speed
estimation techniques and have been implemented on
the electric motor drive. Notwithstanding the advanced
technology, control operation of electric drive at very
low speed and zero speed constitutes a persisting
challenge[42-43, 95,98] . Traction drive for EVs, is one of
the different applications of electric drive that requires
fixed amount of controlled torque level down to zero
speed. However, huge computational efforts in rotor
speed estimation and motor parameters variations during
the operation are other shortcomings of sensorless
control. The comparative analysis of sensorless
performance of electric drives is quite difficult, since
a standard set of tests and any benchmarks has not
been agreed yet. However, this benchmark issue to
standardizing tests has already been addressed in [99].
4.2.1 Machine model based estimation techniques
Rotor speed estimation techniques based on
the machine fundamental model can be applied for
both IM and PM machines[42] . Machine parameter
dependency during the operation is the common
drawback in both open loop and closed loop estimation
schemes and real time parameter adaption schemes are
applied to compensate the parameter variation [42-43, 95] .
As the stator frequency approaches to zero, rotor
induced voltage also approaches to zero and finally
IM variables become unobservable and lose the con-
trollability[42,95] . However, the satisfactory performance
of these schemes has been reported above to 2% of
base speed[42]. Fig.14 illustrates the simplified schematic
diagram of sensorless control of electric motor.
 S. J. Rind et al.: Configurations and Control of Traction Motors for Electric Vehicles: A Review
Fig.14 Sensorless control of electric motor drive
Low speed or zero speed estimation problem in
sensorless machine model based techniques can be
understood by the stator voltage equation that is
d s
vs  Rs is 
dt
The rate of change in stator flux linkage ψs
becomes zero when stator frequency approaches to
zero, since stator flux linkage is the function of speed
and frequency[98] . At low speed/frequency, an IM
appears purely resistive at the stator terminals. It
requires the stator terminal quantities when the flux
linkage is determined through the integral form as:
t A detailed comparison of rotor flux MRAS with
s   0  vs  Rsis  dt
Signals in (5) have noise and disturbances on the
measured values at low frequency, resulting reduction
in accuracy. Noise and quantization appear in digital
measurement while drift and offset exit in the analog
transducers[95,98] . How to implement this integrator
perfectly is the main factor in order to apply these
machine model techniques[42-43,98]. The integrator can
be replaced by a low pass filter (LPF) with low cut-off
frequency typically around 1~3Hz and has been
proposed[97,100-101]. However, LPF acts like an integrator
only above to cut-off frequencies but it introduces
delay in the estimated speed relative to the actual
speed as well as gain and phase error, resulting
inaccurate estimation of speed and degradation in the
dynamic performance of drive[43,95,102]. A programmable
cascaded LPF with small time constant introduced by
[103], another solution with superior performance was
given by [104], in [105] a modified integrator is used
for the rotor flux estimation.
PM machines have the same limitations where the
estimation is based on flux linkage variation[42] . The
BLDC motor with trapezoidal flux distribution is
more preferred in sensorless operation in which two
windings are excited at the same time and third one is
used as a sensor. On the other hand, BLDC motor with
sinusoidal flux distribution excites three windings
at the same time and sensor-less control algorithm
becomes complicated [106] . However, limitation of
BLDC sensorless operation through back EMF includes:
EMF is zero at zero speed; limited dynamic range due
to filtering and phase shift[42] .
Machine parameter variation during the operation
is somewhat an important issue in speed estimation
and these parameters change during the operation due
to temperature variations, operating frequency and
magnetic saturation level[43,95,97] . Stator resistance
variation is a more serious problem at low speed and
this variation can be up to 50% [42,95,98] . Frequency
dependent skin effect can change the rotor resistance
11
more rapidly but this effect is low under steady state
operating conditions. Therefore, online parameter
estimation and adaptation techniques are used to make
the stable operation as well as accurate speed
estimation[107-108] . Several schemes have been proposed
in which both rotor speed and stator resistance are
estimated simultaneously[108-110] .
4.2.2 MRAS-based estimators
Application of Model Reference Adaptive System
(MRAS) based speed estimation techniques are more
(4)
common in sensorless control due to their inherent
simplicity, effectiveness and less computational efforts.
Fig.15 shows the block diagram of MRAS implementa-
tion in motor control. MRAS further associated
schemes include rotor flux, reactive power, back EMF
and stator current based[43,111-113] . Ideal integrator
approximation in the reference model is an important
factor for the MRAS performance as already discussed
before.
(5) Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) technique was presented
in [114] with less computational effort with a ratio of
1:20 [42] . However, the scheme suffers with machine
parameter variations specially stator resistance and
flux pure in tegration problem in reference model,
stator voltage acquisition and inverter nonlinearity at
low speed[95, 97] . Back EMF MRAS scheme avoids the
pure integrator in the reference model was proposed in
[112]. However, this scheme is still sensitive to stator
resistance and has stability problems at low stator
frequency[115] . MRAS scheme based on reactive power
avoids flux pure integrator and provides the robustness
against the stator resistance variations[43,112] . However,
this scheme is unstable at some operating conditions,
especially in regenerative mode[109, 115-116]. Moreover,
both reactive power and back EMF disappear at low
speed region. Another neural network based MRAS
scheme proposed for IM drive and compared with the
older one with ±50rad/s, ±10rad/s and some tests at
very low speed[117] . An indirect VC MRAS scheme for
PM machines with stator resistance estimation at 2rad/s
speed were presented in [118]. In [119] a robust
MRAS based position and speed estimator is proposed
by using hetrodyning speed adaptation mechanism
Fig.15 Implementation of MRAS in sensorless motor
control operation
 12 Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering, Vol.3, No.3, December 2017
for sensorless control of PMSM drive. Adaptive line
enhancer based improved reference model provides
better noise rejection capability for extended EMF
estimated from the sliding mode observer. Low
computational cost and simple implementation was
shown for the proposed method.
4.2.3 Other speed observers
Kalman and Luenberger observers, both are well
known advanced signal processing techniques and
have been widely applied in high performance electric
drives. KF includes rotor current estimation in direct
VC of IM drive, a reduced order model of EKF for rotor
resistance estimation was introduced for computational
savings and aid in real time implementation[120] . In
[121] EKF used in estimation for VC and DTC of IM
in which low speed test shows the estimation speed
errors of around 2~4 r/min. Choice of filter matrices
for better performance is still a focused research area,
although trial and error methods are widely used[122] .
Whereas, ELO has been applied for combined rotor
flux as well as rotor speed estimation with less
computational effort and relatively flexible design as
compared to EKF[43,97,123] . However, ELO has been found
to be weak when applied for joint rotor flux and rotor
speed in low speed operating region[43] . In spite of,
huge computational efforts and complexity, both KF
and EKF have been widely applied in electric drive
control due to lower sensitivity of parameters[114] .
Some drawbacks of conventional EKF are lack of
design and tuning criteria instability due to linearization
and erroneous machine parameters assumption of
white Gaussian noise costly calculation of Jacobian
matrices[42,124] .
Sliding mode control (SMC) is another widely
applied scheme in electric motor control. SMC scheme
is considered for less machine parameter sensitivity
and external disturbances and has capability to provide
fast transient response[43,125-126] . An integral SMC has
been applied for VC of IM drive with the 20% of
parameter variations and stepping speed from 800r/min
to 1200r/min [126] . An adaptive sliding mode stator flux
observer with KF for DTC scheme of PM machine has
been applied[127] , reported test include ±24r/min &
±10r/min reversal (0.33 Hz, 0.79% of rated speed). A
novel robust adaptive torque observer has been
applied for high performance instantaneous torque
control application of PM machine with low torque
ripples[128] . A novel fixed boundary layer SM flux
observer is used in indirect VC of IM drive for the
application of EVs with different load condition [129] .
4.2.4 AI-based techniques
In the last few years Artificial Intelligence (AI)
based techniques are getting more attention from
researchers. The main objectives of these AI based
techniques are to reduce the controller associated
tuning efforts, enhance the robustness against the
machine parameter sensitivity and by means of
DSP implementation to achieve the high dynamic
performance with less computational efforts[43,92,130] . In
general, there are several key features and applications
of AI based electric drive system implementation
including [43, 93] :
● To improve the performance of conventional
controller and make system robust against parameter
variations.
● System can be easily extended and modified.
● Application in the fault detection and parameter &
state estimation in ac & dc drive.
● Electric drive efficiency optimization and in machine
design optimization.
Among different AI based techniques, NNs have got
the wide applications in sensorless electric motor control.
Several technical papers have been presented[43,117,131-132]
on NN based MRAS speed sensorless control in which
the conventional adaptive model is replaced by an online
trained NN as a state estimator whereas adaptation
mechanism is modified with the network tuning law.
However NN assisted MRAS schemes still suffer from
the machine parameter variations and pure integration
problem but have improved the performance[131]. By
replacing the traditional PI controller, ANFIS estimator
is applied for speed control of IM in magnetizing flux
oriented control scheme[133].
4.2.5 Estimation through signal injection
In sensorless electric motor control these SI
techniques show low machine parameter sensitivity
with better low speed or zero speed performance[42] . In
SI technique, a low amplitude but high frequency
signal is injected to the stator windings that does not
change the basic operational behavior of the machine
a lot. The injected signals are modulated by the
orientation of the machine asymmetries, and then
processed and demodulated to get the required
measurement. Such asymmetries occur more naturally
in synchronous motors. Many authors have proposed
different novel techniques, [134] presents speed
estimation technique through SI, smooth air gap IM
model combined with an MRAS. Test shows the
response of estimator performance through zero speed
with 50r/min step. In [135] sensorless PMSM system
parameters are identified including the inverter at
different operating conditions. SI based method is
used first before moving on to the EMF based estimation.
PM machines vary with respect to suitability for SI
based techniques[42] . In[136] developed a design criteria
to assist SI technique for interior PM machine using
finite element analysis.
However, high frequency SI techniques are hugely
complicated and their design criteria is not general
and varies with the machine drive system, resulting
losing the generality of technique application [95,97] .
Moreover, these techniques also constitute the torque
ripples and acoustic noise emissions that is not much
preferable for the EVs and HEVs applications[125] .
4.3 System architecture and powertrain configura-
tion
The purpose of powertrain configurations is to
achieve the optimal speed-torque characteristic and to
 S. J. Rind et al.: Configurations and Control of Traction Motors for Electric Vehicles: A Review
meet the operational constraints of vehicle such as
initial acceleration, gradability and maximum cruising
speed with minimum power requirements[2] . There are
different powertrain configurations with merits and
demerits. Present issues are complexity in control
mechanism, number of components in drivel line,
compactness and highly efficient operation[1,10,16] .
Research study is required in this field to make a cost
effective, compact and simple control drive train
architecture without compromising the vehicle opera-
tional constraints.
4.4 Electric traction motors
Present problems and associated future challenges
in traction motors are given below:
● IM is the widely accepted choice by most EV/HEV
manufacturers but still suffers from high losses, poor
power factor, low efficiency and less compactness
comparatively with PM-motor[10,46,54]. Research efforts
are required to resolve these issues either at design
level or by proposing new control scheme and/or
new converter topology.
● In PM-motors, cost is the main issue due to
expensive rare earth PMs[10]. Availability and supply
issue with rare earth magnets may affect the wide
application of these motors in electric propulsion
system.
● To improve the operational performance of PM-
motors with smaller and less expensive magnets
like Alnico and Ferrite is another issue of design
and development[10,71] . Research in materials may
significantly contribute in reduction of motor
losses and production cost as well as overall
efficiency improvement.
● Main problems in SRM applications are torque
ripple/vibration and acoustic noise. There are
several vibration/noise reduction methods proposed
by researchers but still this is the major drawback
in SRM traction drive selection [16,46] . The new
research contribution may produce the low vibration
and low noise SRMs in electrified transport industry.
4.5 Traction motor sensorless control operation
Sensorless control operation not only improves
the performance of traction motor but also reduces
the cost and size of traction drive. Despite several
speed estimation techniques, performance of sensorless
control suffers from instability at low and zero speed
due to the machine parameter sensitivity and signal
distortion[42]. In EV/HEV this is important for high
torque and low speed condition and specifically direct
motor in-wheel drive configuration where wheel speed
and torque directly controlled through the motor[38].
More research needs to be done in this area to design a
new speed estimator with better performance at low
speed and around zero speed with high robustness
against system parameter un- certainty.
5 Conclusion
Different configurations of EV/HEV, traction
motor candidates for electric propulsion system and
13
high performance speed sensorless motor control have
been reviewed. All three major HEV configurations,
series, parallel and series-parallel have some merits and
demerits with system perspective, but the application
depends on required operational characteristics of the
applied configuration. The system complexity and high
cost due to the additional drive line components are the
ongoing research aspects.
DC motors, IM, PMSM and SRM are predominantly
utilized as major traction motor candidates in the
electrified transport industry. Each traction motor type
has its own key features and challenges in terms of cost,
efficiency, power density, and manufacturability.
However, recent research and developments in electric
drive technology, power electronics and digital signal
processing field, AC traction motors have become a
much more attractive choice over the traditional dc
motor for EVs and HEVs. Both Table 7 and Table 8
illustration show that the IM and PMSM are highly
preferred in EVs/ HEVs, due to their better operational
characteristics.
Both VC and DTC motor control techniques are
applied for high performance applications. However,
DTC is more suitable for ISA application and VC is
preferred for BEVs/pure EVs over DTC due to torque
ripples produced by DTC. The use of speed sensor
reduces the reliability, efficiency and the overall
performance of traction drive system. Highly efficient
and reliable drive operation can be achieved in speed
sensorless control. But the performance of sensorless
operation at low speed or zero speed is unstable which
is important in EVs at high torque and low speed
operating condition. To improve the performance of
sensorless traction drive at this region is the
highlighted research area and further research activities
need to be done.
6 Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank NED University
of Engineering & Technology, Karachi and Higher
Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan to support and
fund this project. Authors would also like to thank The
University of Liverpool, England to provide partial
studentship to support this project.
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Saqib Jamshed Rind received the BEng
degree in Industrial Electronics from NED
University of Engineering and Technology,
Karachi, Pakistan in 2004, M.Sc and PhD
in the field of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering from Newcastle University, UK
and University of Liverpool, UK in 2007
and 2017 respectively. Presently Dr. Rind
is working as an Assistant Professor in
the Department of Automotive & Marine
Engineering at NED University of Engineering and Technology,
Karachi, Pakistan. His current research areas are electrical machines,
electric drives, power electronics, and electric and hybrid electric
vehicles.
Yaxing Ren received BSc and PhD in
electrical engineering from the University
of Liverpool, UK, in 2012 and 2016,
respectively. Presently he is a research fellow
in the University of Warwick, UK. His
research interests are control and analysis
of renewable energy, smart grid, electric
vehicle, and battery management system.
17
Jibing Wang received BSc in Informatic in
China University of Geosciences in 2005,
Master of Science in Quality Management
from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in
2014. From 2015, he is industrial doctoral
candidate in Advanced Manufacturing from
Tianjin University. He is also the R&D
manager of Sicher Elevator Co., Ltd.,
Huzhou, Zhejiang.
Yihua Hu (SM’15, M’13) received the B.S.
degree in electrical motor drives in 2003, and
the Ph.D. degree in power electronics and
drives in 2011, both from China University of
Mining and Technology, Jiangsu, China.
Between 2011 and 2013, he was with the
College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang
University as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Between
November 2012 and February 2013, he was
an academic visiting scholar with the School
of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Newcastle University,
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Between 2013 and 2015, he worked as a
Research Associate at the power electronics and motor drive group,
the University of Strathclyde. Currently, he is a Lecturer at the
Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, University of
Liverpool (UoL). He has published 47 papers in IEEE Transactions
journals. His research interests include PV generation system, power
electronics converters & control, and electrical motor drives. He is the
associate editor of IET Power Electronics, IET Renewable Power
Generation, Journal of Power Electronics, and Power Electronics and
Drives.
Lin Jiang (M’00) received the B.Sc. and
M.Sc. degrees from Huazhong University of
Science and Technology (HUST), China, in
1992 and 1996; and the Ph.D. degree from
the University of Liverpool, UK, in 2001, all
in Electrical Engineering. Currently, he is
a Reader in The University of Liverpool.
His research interests include control and
optimization of power system and smart grid
with ICT, renewable energy generation and
integration, and demand-side response. He is the associate editor of
IET Renewable Power Generation, IET Smart Grid, and Protection
and Control of Modern Power Systems.