A Reconfigurable Cascaded Multilevel Converter for EV Powertrain

Tresca, Giulia; Formentini, Andrea; Riccio, Jacopo; Anglani, Norma; Zanchetta, Pericle

Abstract

This paper presents a new topology for EV powertrain, called Reconfigurable Cascaded Multilevel Converter, able to simultaneously implement power conversion and active battery system management. The latter feature is performed through the Reconfigurable Battery Module structure, where the serial connection of cells is controlled through a pattern of switches. This work contributes to the improvement of EV powertrain multilevel topologies by adding the advantages of reconfigurable systems. Compared to other multilevel topologies, an optimized control algorithm allows maintaining the converter efficiency comparable to more standard solutions and, concurrently, performing sorting algorithms to keep balanced SOC dynamics between the cells. Moreover, the new topology can be completely customized, according to different application requirements. To validate its feasibility in terms of efficiency, the converter is compared to other three alternative topologies. Efficiency measurements are carried out to validate the comparison. Finally, experimental results show how the active management of the battery stack can avoid voltage imbalances and be resilient to sudden voltage or load changes.

Citation

Tresca, G., Formentini, A., Riccio, J., Anglani, N., & Zanchetta, P. (2024). A Reconfigurable Cascaded Multilevel Converter for EV Powertrain. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 60(2), 3332-3344. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2023.3337763

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 30, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Nov 30, 2023
• Publication Date: 2024-03
• Deposit Date: Mar 12, 2024
• Journal: IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications
• Print ISSN: 0093-9994
• Electronic ISSN: 1939-9367
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 60
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 3332-3344
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2023.3337763
• Keywords: Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Control and Systems Engineering
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/28416969
• Publisher URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10336525