1

Electric Vehicles
ELEC 5970/6970/6970-D02

Power Electronic Converters

References:
• Iqbal Husain, ”Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, Design Fundamentals,” Third Edition, March
2021, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, ISBN: 978-0429-49092-7
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Power Electronic Converters

2
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Power Devices and Electronic Circuits

• Power electronic circuits convert electrical energy from one voltage level
and frequency to another.
• The basic element of the circuits are the power semiconductor devices.
• Power devices act as an electronic switch within a circuit configuration or
topology.
• A controller circuit generates commands for the switching of the power
devices
• Energy storage elements (inductors and capacitors) are also part of the
power electronic circuit.
• Parasitic inductances and resistances introduce noise in the circuits and
have to be managed through careful design.

7-3
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Converter Circuits
Four basic power converter circuits are:
• DC/DC converter: Converts DC voltages from one level to another.
• DC/AC inverter: Converts DC voltage to AC voltages. The AC voltages
can be square wave or sinusoidal voltages comprised of pulse width
modulated (PWM) signals.
• AC/DC converter or rectifier: Rectifies AC voltages to DC voltages.
• AC/AC converter: Converts AC voltages at one level and frequency
directly into another voltage level and frequency. These are known as
cycloconverters.

7-4
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Ideal Switch and Characteristics

• Ideal switch is a four-quadrant device
• Carries current with zero voltage drop when it is on
• Blocks a voltage with zero current flow, when it is off
Forward Conduction, S-closed
i

Control
i II I

+ v -
S v
Reverse Blocking
Forward Conduction, S-open

III IV

Reverse Conduction, S-closed

7-5
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Power Electronic Switches

Diode: Two-terminal, circuit-controlled switch

7-6
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Power Electronic Switches

SCR & GTO: Three-terminal, high-power, controlled switches

2.5V

7-7
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Power Electronic Switches

BJT: Three-terminal, current-controlled switch

7-8
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Power Electronic Switches

MOSFET: Three-terminal, voltage-controlled switch

7-9
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Power Electronic Switches

IGBT: Three-terminal, voltage-controlled switch

• Voltage to gate • Remove • Medium power

IGBT Collector (vGE) voltage from • Very easy to
Gate
• High speed gate control
(~0.2µs) • High speed • On voltage ≈3.0
(~.5µs) V
Emitter • Combines MOS
and BJT
technologies

7-10
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Bi-directional Switch
• Bidirectional power flow is often required with power electronic
circuits.
• Bi-directional switches are needed for bi-directional power flow.
• Bi-directional switches are made by combining two power devices.
i i

i i

v v
v v

(b)
(a)
Fig. 7.5 (a) Bi-directional current switch; (b) Bi-directional voltage switch.

7-11
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DC/DC Converters
• Changes system DC voltages from one level to another
• Input could be a filtered DC voltage, and may be unregulated
• The output is a regulated DC voltage
• Switching frequency is kept high (few hundred kHz or more)
to minimize storage (L & C) element sizes
• Efficiencies are typically high – in the upper nineties
• Two basic types:
• Isolated DC-DC converters
• Non-isolated DC-DC converters
• Three places in electric and hybrid vehicles where DC-DC
converters are used:
• Voltage boost in electric powertrain (non-isolated)
• High-voltage to Low-voltage interface for 12V electronics (isolated)
• Converters for energy storage cell balancing

7-12
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Non-isolated DC/DC Converters

• Designed to either step-up or step-down the input voltage
• Three basic second order DC-DC converters are:
• Buck converter
• Boost converter
• Buck-boost converter
• The basic topologies include one switching device and one
diode
• Improved topologies are available with two switches, two
diodes and additional storage elements. Consequently, order
of the system increases with additional components
• Examples of higher order converters are Cuk and Sepic
converters
• DC-DC converters operate in either continuous conduction
mode (CCM) or discontinuous conduction mode (DCM)
7-13
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Buck Converter
• Buck Converter with SPDT switch
• Average output voltage smaller than the input voltage
• Duty ratio and input-output voltage relation:
Switch − on time vo i
D= = in = D
Time period (T) Vin Io
iL
SPDT
Switch
L vL iO
vs
L
S Vin
iC Vo=DVin
Vin vs C R VO Vin vD D C R vO DT T t
Switch
Position 1 2 1

7-14
 15

Buck Converter
vL

t
• MOSFET implementation shown; BJT implementation is similar
iL
Switch − on time vo i
D= = in = D ILmax
Io
Time period (T) Vin Io ILmin
iL DT T t
vL iO vD
L
S
iL iC

Vin vD D C R vO t
vL iO
iC
L
S ILmax - Io
iC
ILmin - Io t
iO DT T
Vin vD D C R vO
S
L
iC
vO
D C R vO
t

7-15
Step-Down DC-DC Converter 16

idiode

DC_DC_Buck.pscx

vL

iL
ILmax
Io
ILmin
DT T t
vD
Note: vdiode = - voi
t
iC
ILmax - Io
ILmin - Io t
DT T

vO

t
 Boost Converter ILmax
iL
17

• Average output voltage larger than the input voltage ILmin

Io

• MOSFET implementation shown; BJT implementation is similar vS DT T t

• Input-output voltage relation: vo iin 1 Vin

= = t
Vin Io 1− D
iC
iL = iin
vL D iO ILmax - Io
L
vD DT T t
iC - Io
S vS iD
Vin
C R vO

Io
DT T t
iL = iin
vL D iO
vL iL = iin
D iO vO
L
vD < vo >
iC L
vD
iC t
S vS
Vin
C R vO S vS vL
Vin
C R vO
Vin

-( < vo > - Vin ) t

7-17
 iL
ILmax
Io
ILmin

vS DT T t

Vin

iC
ILmax - Io

DT T t
- Io

iD

DT T
Io
t
DC_DC_Boost.pscx
vO
< vo >
t
vL
Vin

-( < vo > - Vin ) t

 Buck-Boost Converter vL
Vin
19

• Can either step-up or step down the input voltage

- < vo > t
• MOSFET implementation shown; BJT implementation is
similar iL
ILmax
• Input-output voltage relation: vo iin D Io
= = ILmin
Vin Io 1− D DT T t
iD
iO
iD iO Io
D
S
iC DT T t
D
S C R vO
iC iC
Vin vL iL C R vO ILmax - Io
iD iO
DT T t
- Io
D
S
iC vO
Vin vL iL C R vO < vo >
t
Step-Down/Up DC-DC Converter: Waveforms 20

idiode

- vdiode +

DC_DC_BuckBoost.pscx
BUCK, BOOST, and BUCK-BOOST CONVERTERs 21

D > 0.5 boost

D < 0.5 buck
End of Lecture 25