Inverter Losses Reduction Control Techniques for Plug-In HEV and FEV Traction Drive

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) or Full Electric Vehicle (FEV) can be very useful in order to meet fuel economy and to reduce pollutant emissions in transport in particular for use in the urban area. This kind of vehicles needs a medium to large battery stack in order to assure a good range in pure electric with zero emissions (30-40 km for PHEV and 120-150 km for FEV). The global power train efficiency is an important factor that has to be improved for a better utilization of the energy stored into the batteries. The electronic power converter (usually an inverter) in the electrical traction drive is one of the key components in the power train. In this paper a control method for reducing the inverter power losses and, consequently, for improving the efficiency and the motor exploiting has been studied. The proposed control method is a Modified Space Vector Field Oriented Control for an induction motor. Furthermore, a better inverter efficiency allows a size reduction of the electrical drive cooling system.