Tomorrow’s Mobility

Sustainable Technologies for the automotive sector

Week 2 – Session 5 – Power Electronics

Fundamentals

Guillermo Ballesteros

Introduction

I- Power electronics use

II- Basic semiconductor devices
III- Build-up of power electronic devices

Conclusion

© IFPEN / IFP School 2018

Introduction
Electric current is the main parameter of the machine to provide or absorb power. But how to
produce and manage the machine electric current? How to charge a battery? How to produce
onboard electricity?
This is what the current lesson is about: The different families of power electronic converters used
in an electric vehicle will be explained.

I- Power electronics use

Power electronics devices are necessary to transform voltage, current and frequency in electric
vehicles. So power electronics interface electric devices between them and control the electric
energy flow between each other.
The high voltage battery of electric vehicles is around 400 Volts. This battery stores the main
electric energy of the vehicle. For control units, for lights, fans, and other on board devices or
auxiliaries, the voltage to power them is around 14 Volts. For onboard grid, a conversion from 400
Volts to 14 Volts is necessary. A buck DC-DC converter does this transformation.
For some electric vehicle architectures the nominal voltage of the electric machine could be higher
than the pack battery voltage, for example 800 Volts. In that case it is necessary to transform the
voltage from 400 to 800 Volts. This is done by a DC-DC boost converter.
Main Electric vehicles use AC machines. Inverters make the transformation of a continuous current
coming from the battery to alternative current necessary to drive the electric machines. Moreover,
during braking, the alternative current coming from the AC machine is transformed in continuous
current that will be stored in the battery with AC-DC rectifier.
In the same way, to charge the battery a charger transforms the alternative current of the grid to a
continuous current necessary for the battery.
VOLTAGE
DC-DC Converter: Buck
INPUT
AC-DC AC
Grid
Rectifier

DC-DC Onboard Grid OUTPUT

Buck 14V
TIME
DC-DC
Boost AC VOLTAGE
DC-AC Electric
400V Inverter machine
DC-DC INPUT
Boost 800V

Ultra
Capacitor TIME

OUTPUT

II- Basic semiconductor devices

Inverters, rectifiers, chargers, DC-DC buck and boost converters are power electronic devices. They
have a lot of common points.

Week 2 – Session 5 – Power Electronics Fundamentals, p. 1

1
© IFPEN / IFP School 2018
 Inverter

Rectifier

Chargers
POWER ELECTRONIC
DC-DC Buck DEVICES

DC-DC Boost

All of them are composed with power electronics transistors and power electronic diodes. These
components are semiconductor devices. They behave like a switch. So they are able to conduct
current or stop current conduction.
Transistors need to be driven to start and stop conducting by a voltage or current pulse. Diodes
stop and start conduction without a driver, they naturally switch. These components are active
components.
Transistors and Diodes

POWER ELECTRONICS POWER ELECTRONIC ON OFF

TRANSISTORS DIODES

Transistors

Diodes

Passive components are inductors and capacitors.

They are used to smooth or filter the current (for inductors) or the voltage (for capacitors) to obtain
continuous current or voltage. They are also used to store electric energy and they are able to
exchange electric energy together. In that way, it is possible to boost or buck a voltage.

Week 2 – Session 5 – Power Electronics Fundamentals, p. 2

2
© IFPEN / IFP School 2018
 Inductor and Capacitor

POWER ELECTRONICS POWER ELECTRONIC

INDUCTOR CAPACITOR

Inductor
Capacitor

CURRENT VOLTAGE

VOLTAGE CURRENT

TIME TIME

Inductor and Capacitor

ENERGY

1 1

TIME

ENERGY

2
2

TIME

III- Build-up of power electronic devices

By combining active components with passive components it is possible to create power electronics
devices.

Week 2 – Session 5 – Power Electronics Fundamentals, p. 3

3
© IFPEN / IFP School 2018
To drive an electric machine, the power switch is often composed by a transistor and a parallel
diode. It permits a circulation of current in two directions. So, this bidirectional switch is necessary
to recover energy.
Indeed, since the electric machine is an inductive load, the electric machine can create overvoltage
that can be destructive for transistors. In that case, the diode is used as a clamp voltage for
transistor protections when they switch off. The elementary brick in power electronics is composed
by two power switches like those connected in series to a power supply.
At the middle of the connection between the two power switches there is a connection to other
electric devices like a machine, or a filter composed by passive components. This elementary brick
is called switching cell or half bridge.

Switching Cell

To load

Power electronics are a source of energy losses. This is why a lot of research is done to improve
efficiency (higher than 90%) AND to improve integration. The integration relates to the amount of
power that can be embedded in a certain volume. The aim is to reach around high specific densities
of around 30 W / liter. At the same time, costs and the weight of the power electronics converter
need to be reduced.
High Efficiency and Integration

Power density:
Around 30 W/liter

Week 2 – Session 5 – Power Electronics Fundamentals, p. 4

4
© IFPEN / IFP School 2018
Conclusion
To sum up:
 Power electronic converters are based on switching electronic devices.
 There are different power electronic converters that perform different functions like DC-DC
Converters (buck and boost), DC-AC converter (inverter) and AC-DC converter (rectifier).
Their function is to transform and control voltage, current and frequency from the battery
to loads and vice versa.
 Power electronics are mandatory to use with electric machines to control and manage
power and torque.

Week 2 – Session 5 – Power Electronics Fundamentals, p. 5

5
© IFPEN / IFP School 2018