Multilevel motor drive with integrated battery charger

Abstract

An apparatus, system and method for a multilevel electrical vehicle (EV) motor drive circuit with an integrated battery charger. The apparatus, system and method may include a direct current (DC) battery for the EV connected in parallel with a capacitance; and a three level inverter circuit in parallel with the DC battery and connected in neutral point bisection with the capacitance, comprising: a high frequency low voltage pulse width modulation circuit; and a low frequency fundamental switching circuit at least partially in parallel with the high frequency low voltage pulse width modulation circuit. Additionally included may be motor windings connected in neutral point bisection with the low frequency fundamental switching circuit; and a power factor correction boost charging circuit connected to the three level inverter circuit, and connected to an alternating current grid.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is a national stage application of International Patent Application No. PCT / US2019 / 021845, filed Mar. 12, 2019, entitled: MULTILEVEL MOTOR DRIVE WITH INTEGRATED BATTERY CHARGER, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 641,809, filed Mar. 12, 2018, entitled MULTILEVEL MOTOR DRIVE WITH INTEGRATED BATTERY CHARGER, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in their entireties.BACKGROUNDField of the Disclosure[0002]The disclosure relates generally to electric vehicle batteries and, more particularly, to a multilevel motor drive with integrated battery charger for electric vehicles.Description of the Background[0003]As the number of electric vehicles on roads rapidly increases, the charging of those vehicles, and specifically the charging time and the distance that may be travelled on a charge for those vehicles, become ever more important aspects of electric ve...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes an apparatus, system, and method for a multilevel electrical vehicle motor drive circuit with an integrated battery charger. The system includes a DC battery and a three level inverter circuit with a high frequency low voltage pulse width modulation circuit and a low frequency fundamental switching circuit. Additionally, there are motor windings connected in parallel with the low frequency fundamental switching circuit and a power factor correction boost charging circuit connected to the three level inverter circuit and an alternating current grid. The system can provide a more efficient and reliable motor drive circuit with a DC battery and a flexible charging system. The technical effect is improved performance and functionality of electrical vehicles.

Problems solved by technology

This boost stage uses the motor windings as the boost inductor, and hence suffers from a high parasitic capacitance within the motor windings, and from associated leakage currents.

This technology also uses existing drive train electronics for charging, with an additional DC / DC boost converter, and hence requires much more limited additional electronics than do the technologies of the '555 and '022 patents.

However, a high change in current over a small change in time (di / dt) may degrade or even melt a switch.

EMC may occur because of the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy, which causes unwanted effects, such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) or physical damage in the charging system.

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