ELECTRIC AND ELECTRIC HYBRID VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY :A SURVEY

Pro$ Dr. lr. G. Maggetto, lr. J, Van Mierlo Vrije Universiteit Brussel e-mail: [email protected]. [email protected]

1. INTRODUCTION
In urban area, due to their beneficial effect on environment, electric and hybrid vehicles are an important factor for improvement of traffk and more particular for a healthier environment. We are quite rapidly reaching the end of the cheap oil era [l]. This could happen around 2010 and is nowadays probably indicated by the steadily growing oil price. Therefore the need for alternative energy source is growing and the price competition of alternatives against oil is becoming more and more realistic. Electric and electric hybrid vehicles are offering the best possibility for the use of new energy sources, because electricity can result from a transformation with high efficiency of these sources and is always used with the highest possible efficiency in systems with electric drives or components. Some basic considerations about electric and hybrid vehicles today and in a mid and long-term perspective, are presented together wt the ih infrastructure developments [2].

Fig. 2: Two or four motor drive for electric vehicles

3.STRUCTURE VEHICLES

OF

HYBRID

ELECTRIC

2.STRUCTURE VEHICLES

OF

PURE

ELECTRIC

The implementing range of an electric vehicle can be extended by an additional energy source, i.e. an internal combustion motodgenerator group or fuel cell. In colloquial language the vehicle is named hybrid vehicle, more precisely hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and according to the international standards thermal electric hybrid vehicle (TEHV).Two main structures are defined in hybrid electric vehicles: series hybrid and parallel hybrid.

The electric drive system consists in the simplest case of battery (l), converter (2), motor (3), changeable or fixed gear (4) and differential gear (5) (fig. 1)[3]. Besides the torque splitting with assistance of the differential gear, a two (or four) motor propulsion (3) is also possible (fig. 2)[4,5]. The motors are placed in the wheelhubs. But in this case, each motor needs a separate converter (2) with speed and torque control, which guarantees the necessary torque splitting in each condition. A superposed slip-control is possible. The advantage of a wheelhub motorization relies in the ease to realise a four wheel drive system but mainly for buses in the design of low floor solutions.

Fig. 3: Series hybrid The series hybrid (fig. 3 ) is a combination of energy sources. The traction is obtained by only one central electric motor or by wheelhub motors. The on-board total energy source results from the combination of two or more energy sources. Hence a decoupling of the operation of the energy source from the required traction power is possible. The rated power of the engine-generator group can be designed on very different ways depending on the applications characteristics.

Fig. 1: One motor drive for electric vehicles

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The fuel cell hybrid structure is a series structure in which the enginelgenerator group is replaced by a fuel cell system producing electric energy starting from stored hydrogen or from a fuel tank feeding a reformer to produce hydrogen. The excess of electricity produced by the fuel cell can be stored in a buffer battery. When the battery is left out one has no longer a hybrid vehicle but a fuel cell electric vehicle. The series electric hybrid concept can also be chosen for a two motor propulsion, four motor or multi-motor propulsion in the same way as for pure electric vehicles.

Fig. 6: Combined hybrid A combined hybrid (fig. 6 ) is a combination of a series and a parallel hybrid drivetrain. By adding a mechanical connection in a series hybrid between the internal combustion engine and the electric motor a combination of series and parallel hybrid working mode can be realised. This solution allows benefiting from the parallel as well as f o the series hybrid rm concepts. Thermal engines are usually petrol or diesel motors. Hybrid drive systems need a good power source. Normal traction batteries are not suitable for hybrids. The energy management systems of all hybrid structures will play a fundamental role because of its influence on the global energy efficiency and the emissions. Therefore a good data acquisition and control system becomes a key element of the drive structure.

Fig. 4:

Parallel hybrid

The parallel hybrid (fig. 4) is a combination of traction systems. A combination of electric machines and internal combustion engine, being part of two or more driveshafts, perform the traction. Each driveshaft has to be associated with an energy source. The parallel hybrid drives realise a purely mechanical power addition. Clutches can disconnect each motor. This way, it is possible to drive only with the electric motor, only with the internal combustion engine, with both motors or with the internal combustion engine driving only the electric machine to charge the battery. Solutions with completely disconnected motors driving each one axle are called dual mode hybrids.

4. PERFORMANCES OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES

An electric vehicle has to fulfil all demands of the urban and suburban traffk. These demands are different and depending on the vehicle kind and size. It is not possible to assess and conduct evaluations on one type of vehicle and utilisation pattern representing all together the different segments of the automobile population. The different market segments can be: small passenger cars or second family car, the family car or intermediate car segment, high class segment, commercial delivery vans, trucks, minibuses and urban buses; but also electric bicycles and scooters. Generally the maximum and continuous velocity, gradeability, acceleration and range describe the vehicle characteristics. The driving range of a pure electric vehicle is defined by the battery energy content. The wished continuous speed on a flat road is used to design the battery and the components of the drive system for the continuous or one hour power rating. Regenerative braking is a main feature of electric vehicles. For this a sufficient high enough brake torque and battery recharging current must be available to fulfil the requirements. Fig. 7 shows the throttle pedal characteristics of an electric vehicle.

Fig. 5: Series hybrid with peak power unit

All topologies different from the series and parallel hybrid electric vehicle shall be called complex hybrid vehicles. Hence complex hybrid vehicles include series hybrid with peak power units (fig. 5), parallel hybrids with flywheel mechanically connected via e.g. a continuous variable transmission (CVT) or combined hybrid vehicles (please do not confuse the names).

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A
I
Motor torque

M a x i m u m torque

passenger1 Car range

van

I
1

minibus

I
I

urban bus

120-250 100-150 140-200 150-300

[km3
nax. speed 100-120
80-100 80 70

[MI
Fig.7: Driving torque curve. :ontinuous speed 100

80

60

60

The driveability is very important, which requires-a high starting torque at standstill, a quick and stable response of the motor and an efficient controllable regenerative braking. To have a smooth gentle start the rate of power increase of the motor should be limited. A tractive effort - vehicle speed diagram [2], directly derivable from the motor torque-speed characteristics, is the main characteristic for a vehicle drive. For a better comparison between passenger car, van, minibus and urban bus the tractive effort is referred to a vehicle mass of one ton.

[ M I
grade ability

30

20-25

15-20

12-15

[%I
cceleratioi 1 to 5 0 W
[SI

7-10

10-15

12-18

15-20

Table 1: Present reachable goals for electric vehicles.

5. PERFORMANCES OF HYBRID ELECTRIC

VEHICLES

5.1 Rate of hybridisation

Some definitions are given to better understand the hybrid concepts.
0

29

40

80
c P

120

vapasaengerssr

511 Order of Hybridisation ..

The order of a hybrid system is the number of different systems necessary to build the drivetrain [6]. In the case of an electric or thermal vehicle there is only one motor or engine driving the vehicle. These drivetrains are from the first order. Also fuel cell vehicles without a battery are first order systems. A parallel hybrid built up with one engine and one motor is a second order hybridisation as well as a series hybrid electric vehicle containing a battery and another energy source. When a peak power unit, like a flywheel or supercapacitor, is added to the drivetrain, the vehicle is from the third order. All complex hybrid drivetrains are third or higher order systems. A combined hybrid drivetrain (fig. 6) can also be seen as a third order hybridisation. Although there are only two energy sources, there are three shafts: one connected to the engine, one to the generator and one to the electric motor. All three are mechanically connected to the wheels.

bran

dubanbur

Fig. 8: Tractive effort diagram for electric vehicles Fig. 8 shows also the minimum power per mass for different types of electric vehicles. Furthermore, the diagram shows basic differences in the design of an electric drive: the bigger the vehicle, the smaller are the specifications like tractive force, torque power and continuous speed. In the past, these specifications did not show such high values everywhere in the world. Often, low speed (60 70km/h) and low gradeability (15 - 20%) made the EV not comparable to petrol or diesel driven vehicles in city and highway traffic. Table 1 shows vehicles characteristics realisable with short-term or even todays most performant batteries. The most popular solutions on the todays European market are the cars (106 and Saxo) and the vans (Partner and Berlingo) of the PSA group.

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5.1.2 Electric Hybridisation Rate (HER)

The Electric Hybridisation Rate (EHR) gives an indication of the performance, and above all, the range in protected areas. This means the 'more battery'; the longer one can drive without generator or engine, the higher the electric hybridisation rate. It is the ratio between the electric power and the total traction power and is expressed as a percentage. The higher this rate, the more the vehicle tends to a pure electric vehicle.
'

5.1.3 Combustion Hybridisation Rate (CHR) To have an idea of the relative contribution of the internal combustion engine a complementary definition to the Electric Hybridisation Rate can be introduced: Combustion Hybridisation Rate (CHR). It is the ratio between the thermal power and the total traction power expressed as a percentage. The higher the rate, the more the vehicle tends to a pure thermal vehicle. 5.1.4 Rate of Hybridisation (RoH)
The Electric Hybridisation Rate or the Combustion Hybridisation Rate don't express the degree of hybridisation itself, but rather how much a vehicle leans against the electric vehicle side or respectively to the thermal vehicle side. The Rate of Hybridisation (RoH) describes the relative contribution of each energy source (in the case of series hybrid electric vehicles) or traction system (in the case of parallel hybrids).

When the size of the alternator of a thermal vehicle is increased in such a way that it can be used as starter motor too, one gets a kind of hybrid electric vehicle where the engine can be switched off at e.g. traffk lights. Some electric vehicles are equipped with a small auxiliary power unit (a small engine connected to a generator) to extend the driving range of the vehicle (in the middle of fig 9). The range is still mainly depending on the battery capacity. The dimension of the generator can be enlarged until the range is primarily function of the fuel content, i.e. the battery never gets discharged. The CHR rises and the EHR reduces (from the middle of fig 9 downwards). When the APU is large enough to deliver the whole traction power the battery can even be left out, which corresponds with the 'classical' diesel-electric solution. This can result in a poor efficiency of the entire drivetrain. When the enginelgenerator group is replaced by an efficient fuel cell however, this can lead to a promising environmentally friendly vehicle.

5.2 Component requirements

Nowadays the choice of the structure of an hybrid vehicle is a strong evoluating maner because of the more or less rapid but steady evolution of the components technology and performance. It is out of the scope of this paper to try to give an extensive overview of the characteristics of all possible components for all possible configurations but some among the most classical can be briefly discussed.

5.1.5 Classification
Armed with these definitions a diagram representing a panorama of second order hybrids can be constructed (fig. 9). This user-friendly diagram is based on reference [6] and is pointing out the different possibilities of hybridisation in terms of power by varying progressively the electric and combustion hybridisation rate.

Batteries Compared with the electric vehicles the batteries for hybrid vehicles are characterised by a reduced energy contents and higher power requirements. A specific energy of at least SOWh/kg and a specific power ranging from lOOW/kg, continuous, up to 200 or 300 W k g is a must for an efficient design. Petrol-, diesel- and gas engine /Electric generator The maximum power of the thermal engine depends clearly from the rate of hybridisation. The acceleration power is mainly delivered by the battery. For the electric generator the tendency goes clearly towards the implementation of permanent magnet generators which efficiency at constant power working point is between 90 and 95 %.
Fuel cells Fuel cells can replace the thermal engine/generator group. The associate hybrid structure is always the series one. Maximum efficiency around 60% can be expected with which the efficiency of hydrogen production (e.g. the reformer) has to be multiplied.

ThermalVehicle

Parallcl hybrid

Eledric Vehicle

Wcs hybrid
No-batten

Fig. 9: Different hybrid electric vehicles classification.

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Then the end results remain an open question and also the question on the necessity, or not, to use a buffer battery.

implemented in the Toyota PRIUS (5 U100 km in the city) and the field of the fuel cell car (DB NECARIV based on the Mercedes class A car).

Electric motor Two main ways seems to emerge. The asynchronous (induction) motor has the advantage of its higher robustness. The permanent magnet motor leads to a more expensive solution with a somewhat higher efficiency. It is the solution to be implemented in case of integration of the motors into the wheels. Due to their low cost, reluctance motors can be a good choice in the lowest EHR field.
5.3 Segmentation

High class car segment The high class car population segment has excellent road performance, high technical performance and top comfort, is not at all adapted for town use and is often the frst car of a family with several cars. In this case the parallel hybrid solution seems to be definitively the best one because of the long highway trips. The electric hybridisation rate could be around 35 %. This class could also be a field of implementation of the fuel cells which is in fact a full electric parallel solution. Small delivery vehicles class The small delivery vehicles are used in a similar way as the second family car, the comfort is usually somewhat sacrificed to add additional practical facilities. The series hybrid drive train with the same characteristics as for the second family car segment is the realistic approach for this case. The electric Renault Kangoo equipped with a range extender using 3 cylinder, 600 cc, ICE engine is a very promising realisation. The citybus The classificationof the bus population is quite simpler because of the specific use i.e. for urban public transport with the 6m, 9m, 12m and articulated structure or for tourism. The performances for city public transport are quite modest if one refers to the realisable medium speed in most cities, about 15 km/h, but the range must reach 250 km and sufficient power for acceleration and hill climbing. The maximum speed will range between 60and80km/h. The increased weight imposed by the hybrid (and even electric) structure may have to be translated in a reduced number of passengers i.e. in a reduction of exploitation capacity. The tourism or long range buses are to be compared with vans and lorries. The service of a bus on a public transportation line is clearly a heavy duty service characterised by a big number of stops, acceleration and braking phases. Constant speed is becoming a rare event. The series solution is once more the best solution here with a rate of hybridisation with in the step 30-50 %. The most popular realisation on the European market are the NECO-ALTRA. Europolis (7,Z m) and Cityclass (12 m) buses. Higher rates can be implemented (greater than 50 %) but in that case the working mode can dangerously approach the working mode of a pure diesel (thermal motor) generator group with a strongly variable load and consequently a poor gain (if even existent) in efficiency and emission level. Gain could exist if the efficiency of the mechanical transmission (gearbox, ...) demonstrates to be poor.

To plan a suitable hybrid vehicle, existing classical

vehicles and their usage must be clearly defined first. One way of doing this is to use the segmentation of the automobile market. The basic criteria is the price, which is justified by technical performance and equipment. The standard use per segment is very important for selecting, but also for defining the type of hybrid vehicle, as its price cannot really be representative.

Second family car segment The second (or third) family car segment, also considered as ladies or young persons car is characterised by a frequent use in town, a relatively low daily mileage and a great manoeuvrability in urban areas. Long trips are only occasionally performed, therefore some reduced comfort is acceptable. Due to the frequent use of the car in urban areas the use of the thermal engine in variable regime leads to a dramatically loss of efficiency (even lower than 10 %). Therefore the series hybrid drivetrain with a rate of hybridisation of 20-30 % (CHR) seems to be a realistic approach despite the fact that in the series structure all losses (thermal engine, generator, converter, electric motor) are accumulated. The mileage in all electric mode could be around 50 km with an acceleration time from 0 to 50 km/h in 10 s. Electric vehicles with a range extender unit (up to 300 km) fits fully in this segment. They could lead to the solution for all psychological acceptance difficulties of EVs. Intermediate car segment The intermediate car population segment is a very versatile car used frequently in town, with a good road performance, often used as the main and even sole car. Long trips are performed regularly, therefore comfort is taken into consideration. Therefore the competition for this segment between series and parallel solution will be high, the efficiency of the parallel structure being better on long trips. It could be the field of combined hybrid structure as

1J5

Pb-Pb02
~~

I Ni-Cd
I

I Ni-MH
-40 - 50

Na-S

Li-Ion

Working Temperature

0-45 (-20- 60)

0-50 (-40- 60)

20 - 40

300 - 350

300 -350 (285-370)

-40- 60

"C
Specific Energy WMCg Specific Energy
(2 h discharge)

161

236

300

430

794

795

275

20 - 30

40 - 55

50 - 60

50 - 70

8 0 - 100

90 - 120

90 -140

wmg Energy density 60 - 80

60 - 90

100 -150

60 - 70

110 - 120

120 - 130

150 - 200

WM
Specific Power WJk Cell voltage
75 - 100

120 - 150

140 - 200

80 - 100

150 - 200

150 - 200

350 - 400

vdv (charged)

1935

1,79

1135

2.08 2958

3,6

Table 2: Characteristics of batteries for electric vehicles

6 BATTERIES A N D OTHER ENERGY SOURCES .

Energy for vehicles can be delivered from different sources. Thermal energy from gas and fuel has to be converted into mechanical energy but this is done with low efficiency. Oxygen comes from the air, exhaust-gas is emitted into the air. Burned material cannot be reactivated [7]. Electrochemical energy is stored in batteries or produced by fuel cells. The battery is the most important part in an electric vehicle. Energy density and power density are the first battery parameters to be considered. Table 2 shows the main characteristics of available and advanced batteries for electric vehicles. For The lead-acid battery is the best known. maintenance-free batteries the electrolyte will be stored in a fleece material or in a gel [8]. New types with bipolar cells are in tests. This battery is heavy but cheap. With a good battery management system the lifecycle can be secured. The nickel-cadmium battery [9]has a high power density and a high cycle life. Completely sealed cells with gas recombination are in production. This battery is equipping most of the European electric vehicles on the market. In nickel-metal-hydride batteries an alloy storing

hydrogen will be used for negative electrodes instead of cadmium (Cd). Energy density and power density increase compared to the NiCd battery [101. T h e zinc-bromine battery, a redox type battery, uses soluble active material and liquid electrolyte. It uses bipolar cells which are connected to a stack. A bromine complex is pumped through on one side of the cell and a zinc-bromid on the other. The stack, two electrolyte reservoirs and pipes from polyethylene, gives the system high flexibility [ll]. The redox type batteries attract interest for stationary energy storing systems. The sodium-sulphur battery differs essentially from batteries with liquid electrolyte. A sodium-ion conducting ceramic separates the liquid reactants sodium and sulphur. The operation temperature is more than 300C [12]. The sodium-nickel chloride battery has cells similar to the NaS cells. There is a second electrolyte to the pceramic. This battery demonstrates very good applicability for EVs [13,14]. It is known as the ZEBRA battery. An advanced battery is the Iithium-ion battery [15]. Small cells are already established in the portable electronic market. Batteries for EVs are under development. A first prototype for an EV was shown at

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the 13th Electric Vehicles Symposium, Osaka 1996 and the real marketing is now announced around 2004. The development of fuel cells goes back in the last century. It was stimulated by the wish to produce energy independly from the Carnot law. The alkaline fuel cell was developed in Europe. The power density of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEM) is significantly higher than that of alkaline fuel cells and the PEM is able to work at ambient temperature. Most of the car companies are developing big efforts to integrate the PEM fuel cells in a small part of the car body. The most advanced development in the field is realised by Daimler Chrysler with a Ballard fuel cell. The fuel cells need hydrogen as basic fuel. The production of hydrogen by means of a reformer for methanol (or another type of hydrocarbon fuel) could solve the problem of fuel infrastructure, which could then remain practically unchanged. The marketing is also announced around 2004 but this has only the value of a very optimistic market announcement in a field with very hard competition. Developments of metal-air batteries like zinc-air or aluminium-air were started in the mid sixties. Since few years Electric Fuel Ltd., a company in Jerusalem, Israel, and an institute in Karlsruhe, Germany, developed new zinc-air batteries [16]. Zinc-air is now abandoned in Germany but efforts are still developed in Italy by the EDISON company. Energy can be stored also in a flywheel. The mechanical energy is transformed into electric energy by a generator driven by the flywheel. In some application the flywheel-generator set can be a booster for high power. Still in development are supercapacitors, which also can be used as short time power source.
7. TRACTION MOTORS

should always be evaluated in function of the needs of the application. E.g. each of the different motors can be less efficient than the others in some regions of operation, and it can be more efficient than the others is some other regions. To make a good comparison, one must not compare maximum efficiencies, but relate the efficiency map to a certain speed cycle. The table shows an advantage for the permanent magnet motor as traction motor for electric vehicles. Indeed, on the level of performance the permanent magnet motor has a lot of interesting features. But considering the production cost, one must take into account the high price of the magnets and the more complex construction of the motor. As long as this price is too high, the global result will probably be in the advantage of the asynchronous motor.

&POWER ELECTRONIC FOR EV DRIVES, CHARGER AND DC/DC CONVERTER

From todays view, the IGBT will be the common switching device for EVs. Only converters for low battery voltages (< 1OOV) and converters with very high frequencies (DCDC converter, charger) will be equipped with MOS-FETs [17,18,19].

8.1 Chopper circuits for DC motors

The series wound motor needs only one DC/DC converter unit. When a series motor is used the specific torque-speed curve is used rather than the classical constant torque - constant power characteristics. For braking and reverse driving, additional elements are necessary in the circuit, because the field or the armature connections have to be changed. This can be done with a minimum of four contactors. For braking, the drive system has to be protected against instability [20]. The separately excited DC motor requires an additional type of control compared with the series wound motor. The field current is independent of the armature current. This low current (IF< 0.05 IA)will be mostly controlled by a transistorised field current chopper. In this case the constant torque - constant power working field are systematically exploited with a speed ratio approaching 1:4. For driving backwards in a circuit with a two quadrant chopper, the armature current will be reversed (fig. IO).

Controllability Number power devices Reliability

+
0
0

+
0
0

+
0

+ +
0 --

0 0 0

TOTAL

+++

++++

++

--

Table 3: Comparison of different motor types.

Table 3 gives a comparison of different motor types: asynchronous motor (ASM), permanent magnet motors (PM), switched reluctance motor (SRM), direct current motor (DCM) and synchronous motor (SYM). Motors

Fig. 10: Separately excited DC motor with two quadrant chopper

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8.2 Inverter for AC motors

AC drives need to be fed by a sine voltage or in some applications a trapezoid voltage. This is realised by a DC source connected with a three-phase inverter working in pulse width modulation (PMW) mode (fig. 11).

In comparison with the asynchronous motors or the separately excited DC motor, operation in the range above base speed is not simple. Here control can be achieved with a reactive current and a greater pole angle. Braking operation is possible. The ratio between constant torque and constant power working field will be quite different from the case with asynchronous motor (1:2 to compare with 1:4) [21]. Switched reluctance motors (SRM) will be proposed for EVs because of their good efficiency at low load and low material costs. There are several control concepts. In a simple way each coil is connected between two semiconductor switches, There is only one current direction necessary. For a multiple phase SRM a combination can be established for some coils in the converter. Fig. 12 shows a six-switch converter for a four-phase SRM [22].

Fig. 11: Inverter for AC motor The load filters the current. Harmonic currents should be low compared with the fundamental current to keep the additional losses small. For an asynchronous or a synchronous motor a three-phase AC system is an optimal system. This can be built by combining three two quadrant chopper. But in this combination the semiconductor switching capability must be 3.5 times higher than for the DC chopper and even 3.5/cos(p times more for an asynchronous motor. Other systems are also possible, if they deliver constant power at any time. But the necessary rated power of the semiconductor remains the same. Todays inverters for electric vehicles will be designed with modules of bipolar transistors, MOS-FETs or IGBTs. Three-phase full bridges low current modules are available at reasonable prices. The inverter controlunit has to generate the three-phase voltage. Regenerative braking or reverse driving is performed by the converter control unit without any additional switches. Field oriented control is not always implemented. Compared with DC chopper circuits with relatively low frequency, inverters need a big filter capacitor to reduce the current pulses in the battery. In general applications the inverter circuit shown in fig. 11 is used also for synchronous motors. Some permanent magnet motors (PMM) used today have a trapezoidal distributed magnetic field. Polyphase windings are connected to a corresponding inverter. Therefore, this PMM will be called electronically commutated or brushless DC motor. The more windings are switchable under a field segment, the better they can be adapted to the magnetic field distribution. But with the number of phases the amount of semiconductor switches increases. Therefore, important manufacturers prefer clearly the three-phase motor. The power part of such a PMM-inverter is similar to the inverter for asynchronous motors. The inverter control has to consider the special attribute of the PMM. The pole position has to be detected with a sensor system or by the motor voltage.

Fig. 12: Six-switch inverter for a four-phase SR motor

8.3 DC/DC converter

To provide 12V auxiliary power and to charge the auxiliary battery during operation, a D O C converter is necessary. In the most cases DC/DC converters are made with single-ended forward converter or with push pull forward converter. In some new development flyback converter with very high frequencies are used.
9. CHARGERS DIFRASTRUCUTRE

AND

CHARGING

9.1 Basic charger configurations

Electric vehicles are largely independent of the charging place if they are equipped with an on-board charger connectable with any AC outlet. A 230Vl16A outlet can supply an apparent power of more than 3.5kVA. Such an outlet can be installed everywhere e.g. in public parking or in home garages. A battery of 15kWh can be charged in less than five hours (main charging) with a charger having a unity power factor [23,24]. Electric utilities in Europe are nowadays demanding more and more consumers with low distortion and reactive power requirements. From the AC power supply system a quasi sinusoidal current with a low harmonic content, at unity power factor, can be obtained only by means of a step-up chopper. Fig. 13 shows the basic circuit diagram of the charger.

118

The advantages of resonant converter (RC) and quasiresonant converter (QRC) are mainly the small switching losses. The switching frequency can be increased compared with the conventional PWM converters even by using the same switches. The snubber circuits are not necessary in RC and QRC [25].

1O.AN ALTERNATIVE TO CONDUCTIVE CHARGING :INDUCTIVE CHARGING

The basic idea of the inductive system is quite straightforward: the main transformer of the battery charger is split in two parts. The primary is mounted fixed on the ground, the secondary is mounted on the vehicle. It will now be sufficient to place the primary adjacent to the secondary to re-assemble the transformer and to allow energy transfer from the grid to the battery. The present state of the art of inductive charging system shows several approaches which, related to the use of the working frequency (50 Hz, 400 H or more then 20 z Hz), which have led or may lead to industrial developments. 10.1 Standardisation For inductive charging, a similar structure of standardisation document has been proposed as for conductive charging. Part 1 of the standard covers general requirements for electric vehicle inductive charging systems; at this moment, only a very general approach of the safety requirements, akin to the conductive charging, has been proposed. This approach does not differ fundamentally from the safety requirements for conductive charging. Part 2 of the standard covers the physical, electrical and performance requirements concerning new devices for an electric vehicle inductive coupling, when devices are not already standardised. Part 2 will be further subdivided into parts which describe the several technological approaches which can be followed concerning inductive charging. A special field of concern for inductive charging is the electromagnetic compatibility aspect. 10.2 General applications for inductive charging

Fig. 13: Basic circuit diagram of a charger

In Europe, three-phase feeding is used for powers higher than 3.5kW. This is a line normally separated from the
usual AC single-phase distribution. The DC link voltage is obtained from a three-phase uncontrolled diode rectifier bridge and gets a maximum voltage of 540V. The DC-DC converter must control the battery voltage. Depending on the connection to the AC grid, this system can also be used as off-board charger. Off-board chargers for higher powers are not limited in space and weight. Thus, a conventional controlled rectifier with a 50Hz transformer can be used efficiently. High power is disposable in Europe from the AC three-phase 400V grid. The controlled rectifier is mostly a six-pulse bridge. The protection against insulation faults can be made on different ways [26,27].

9.2 The need for public charging stations: conductive charging

Even considering that, like stated above, most electric vehicles can be charged at home garages, the provision of public charging stations is a necessity as it is for the refuelling stations for classical vehicles. In countries like France, Germay, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Finland on street charging stations have been developed. The cost of the energy used during charging is much lower than normal downtown parking fees and could easily be include in this fee. The development of on street charging infrastructure must be done with a particular emphasis on safety aspects and standardisation. Half fast (7-10 kW) and fast charging station (25kW and more) can help creating confidence in the use of electric vehicles. They allow recharching in less than two hours or in a few minutes or some ten to twenty minutes eliminating so the fear to fall with an empty battery.

Due to its particular characteristics of user-friendliness and safety, inductive charging is well suited to a large number of electric vehicle applications. Because of the infrastructure needed, it seems likely that in a first period fleet applications will be the most important. To make an automatic rent-a-car system attractive and successful, it must be reliable, safe and easy to use. The manipulations to be done by the driver should be as simple as possible: ideally, only identifying himself to the system (e.g. with a credit card), board the vehicle and drive away (the credit card could serve as ignition key). Any additional activities, such as unplugging and storing a cable, ... are clearly unwanted. In this viewpoint, inductive charging systems are particularly attractive for this applications. City centres are the usual operation theatres for taxi fleets, which makes them particularly attractive for electric traction. The daily mileage of taxis in big cities however can be quite important (150-200 km) and may exceed the range of a typical electric vehicle.

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This problem may be countered through the use of opportunity charging, which can easily be implemented taking into account that taxis usually spend an important lot of time waiting at taxi ranks. Having to disconnect the charging cable takes some time however and will make the electric cab less popular with the customer, which in most cases will be in a hurry. Inductive cablefree charging is the solution. Commercial vehicles (i.e. light goods vehicles) are one of the most obvious potential applications for electric vehicles in urban areas. The ubiquitous British milk floats are a well-known example; furthermore, advanced electric vehicles are used in a growing number of European cities for goods distribution and service applications. The utilisation of inductive charging systems on such vehicles has obvious advantages. On one hand, the operations to initiate charging become much more simple and user-friendly, which is particularly interesting when frequent charging intervals are used (opportunity charging). On the other hand, the simplicity of the charging operation will ease the acceptance of the system by the personnel. For all the above mentioned application the basic charging power level is 3 kW but a half fast charging procedure with 6 to 10 kW power level is very easy to implement. Electric buses offer a quiet and fully emission-free public transport in city centres. The daily mileage of a typical city bus however usually exceeds the range of an electric vehicle on a single battery charge. Battery exchange is a potential solution, but can be a cumbersome operation taking into account the heavy weight of the batteries. Opportunity charging is much easier, and when it can be inductively done, without cables or plugs, offers the most attractive solution. The electric power levels used in buses are higher of course. The proposed technology is however fully suitable for power levels up to 100 kW.

12. THE MARKET

In collaboration with the European Union RTD Programs, studies have been performed (1994-1996) about the opportunities for electric and hybrid vehicle introduction in European cities. The selection of these cities takes into account the commitment towards electric transport of each city on one hand and the choice of a "palette" of cities with different characteristics on the other hand. This way, it has been possible to give a thorough description of the niain activity and policy domains where electric vehicles are used in Europe. These studies have confirmed the results obtained in the COST302 study [28], in the EDS study for the European Parliament [29] and in the inquiries performed by CITELEC among its members. The studies all concluded in a market between 10 to 30 % for EV. The Californian market defined for 2003 provides 10 % for EV, 25 % for ULEV i.e. HEV and the rest for LEV (low emission vehicles). But the real future will probably be a mix of EVs, hybrid ULEV and fuel cells vehicles.

13. EUROPEAN PROGRAMMES

A number of RTD actions are running in the ending fourth framework programme, JOULE-THEME, and B R I E E M . They are devoted to the development of batteries (Li), the testing of batteries (Pb, NiCd, NMH, Li-ion, Li-Polymer), the testing of EV or HEV fleets (ZEUS, JUPITER, SAGITTAIRE, EVD-POST, ELCIDIS, ...). Important integrated RTD efforts for hybrid and fuel cells vehicles are also supported in the now running f f h framework programme (PRAZE, Eit TOUR, ENIGMATIC, ELEDRIVE).

14. CONCLUSION
EV and HEV are an existing technology but many efforts are still to be developed to put valuable products on the market. The demand of research development and design effort in the field of drives, energy sources and charging infrastructure is becoming enormous and a challenging field for the European Community. The future of the access to energy, the environmental and climate problems and the need to solve the mobility problems in the cities are all fields in which electric, hybrid and fuel cells vehicles offer a large pattem of interesting and necessary solutions.

11. ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF ELECTRIC

VEHICLES
The energy consumption at the mains of electric vehicles can be reflected by two mathematical r expressions describing the state of the a t of the today's technology and the impact of the drivers.

For medium to high energy cosumption we get 100 C = 150+-

For normal to low energy consumption we get

80 C=80+W
whereby C the consumption in kWh/Tlun and W the weight expressed in tons.

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