M02-L01.

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EV ARCHITECTURE
In this lecture we will take a look at the EV Architecture and components involved. Also we will take
a look at the differences between internal combustion engine vehicle and EV.

Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle Architecture

The figure above represents the architecture of an internal combustion engine vehicle. The major
components involved in Internal Combustion Engine are –

1. Internal Combustion Engine – Which acts as the power device.

2. Gearbox – Multi speed gearbox that controls the torque and speed output of the engine.

3. Differential – For equal distribution of power between wheels.

4. Fuel Delivery Device – to deliver the fuel to the engine.

5. Throttle – to control the fuel control device and thus control the ICE performance.

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Thus, based on this architecture, we can say that the Internal combustion vehicle works in following
way –

The throttle receives the input from the rider, based on the input the fuel delivery device is controlled.
The fuel control device (Carburetor/ Fuel Injector – depending on the vehicle), will then control the
air and fuel mixture of the internal combustion engine and thus controlling the performance. The
multispeed gearbox further refines the engine power in order to deliver the torque and speed
required. The differential then splits the power in order to the wheel as per load requirement.

Thus, in case of internal combustion engine we have a fuel control device and a multi speed gearbox
in order to control the torque and speed being delivered to the wheel.

EV Architecture
The EV architecture can be seen below.

The major components of an EV is –

1. Throttle – The manual input from the rider is taken in order to judge the performance
requirement.

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 2. Controller – Controls the performance of the motor as per the input on throttle.

3. Electric Motor – An energy conversion device that converts electrical energy to mechanical
energy in order to power the wheels.

4. Gearbox – The gearbox is placed in order to refine the final output from the motor as per
the load requirement.

5. Differential – the power received from the gearbox is received in the differential which then
further splits it among the wheels.

6. Battery Management System (BMS) – This controls the power in and out of the battery
pack and keeps it under safe operational limits.

7. Battery Pack – the central power house of the car, it has matrix of cells placed together in
order to store electrochemical energy.

Power flow in EV –

The rider provides the manual input to the throttle which is then converted to the electrical signal.
This signal is received by the controller based on which it judges the performance demanded by the
rider. As per the demand the controller communicates with the BMS for the energy required. The
BMS will confirm the SOC and health of the battery pack if it can provide that kind of energy or not.
At the same time the SOC will be displayed to the rider on the display console. The BMS will extract
the energy required and provide it to the controller. The controller then uses that energy in order to
drive the motor. The motor is then followed usually by a single speed gearbox which further refines
the torque output and through differential the power is split among the wheels. Thus, an EV is able
to move.

EV Powertrain
In this section we will take a look at the EV Powertrain.

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 1

The figure above represents the powertrain of an electric vehicle.

The component marked as 1 – is the controller or the traction unit box. This consists of DC-DC
Converter, DC-AC Converter and other subcomponents required to modify the power in order to
drive the motor.

The components marked 2 – is the transmission unit. This unit consists of Motor, gearbox and
differential. These components could be a single unit or they may be placed in different housing
and then mated together, as per the manufacturer.

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3
2

In the image above we have the cut section of this transmission unit. It consists of –

1. Electric Motor

2. Single speed gearbox

3. Differential

The electric motor can be utilized currently are of three types based on their architecture –

1. BLDC (Brushless DC) / PMDC (Permanent Magnet DC)

2. Induction Motor

3. Synchronous motor

The beauty of electric vehicle is that all these components can be fitted inside a single housing.

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Power unit

In an EV passenger car the battery pack is placed under the floor of the vehicle. Here the battery
pack plays 2 major roles –

1. Storage of the energy.

2. To maintain the structural integrity of the vehicle, as battery is also a part of the chassis.

All wheel drive in an EV

In the image above it can be seen that the vehicle has two motors mounted on it one in the front (to
the left side of the image) and one on the rear (to the right end of the image). The motor in the front
is the primary motor and is more powerful than the one in the rear. So, how does it work?

The motor in the front is more powerful and is a primary motor. It drives the vehicle mainly, and thus
the vehicle will have a 2-wheel drive. But when the 4-wheel drive is required the rear secondary
motor kicks in and thus the vehicle has all wheel drive. Each motor has a differential attached to it
in order to deliver the power to the wheel. In this configuration is important to match the RPM
delivered to the wheels. We need to match the RPM in order to prevent wheel drag. The difference
in torque always adds up, as it is a vector. You may learn more about it when we will perform the
calculation in next module.

More often we get this question that – can we use motor on each wheel? So, the answer to this lies
in the complexity associated with the setup. The primary requirement again will be to match the
RPM and it is more difficult in case of car taking a turn. There each wheel will have different RPM
to be stable and controller must be able to precisely calculate the values or else it will lead to abuse
of tires and shorten their life.

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distribution without permission, or sharing the access to others may lead to legal prosecution.