UNIT-3

EV PROPULSIONS AND DYNAMICS

EV considerations
The choice of electric propulsion systems:
The choice of electric propulsion systems for EVs mainly depends on three factors-driver
expectation, vehicle constraint and energy source. The driver expectation is defined by a driving
profile which includes the acceleration, maximum speed, climbing capability, braking and range.
The vehicle constraint depends on the vehicle type, vehicle weight and payload. The energy source
relates with batteries, fuel cells, capacitors, flywheels and various hybrid sources. Thus, the process
of identifying the preferred features and packaging options for electric propulsion has to be carried
out at the system level. The interactions between subsystems and those likely impacts of system
trade-offs must be examined. The development of electric propulsion systems has been based on the
growth of various technologies, especially electric motors, power electronics, microelectronics and
control strategies
Concept of EV motors
Some engineers and even researchers may consider EV motors kindred or similar to industrial
motors. However, EV motors usually require frequent start/stop, high rate of
acceleration/deceleration, high-torque low-speed hill climbing, low torque high-speed cruising and
very wide-speed range of operation, whereas industrial motors are generally optimized at rated
conditions. Thus, EV motors are so unique that they are deserved to form an individual class. Their
major differences in load requirement, performance specification and operating environment are
summarized as follows:

 EV motors need to offer the maximum torque that is four to five times of the rated torque
for temporary acceleration and hill-climbing, while industrial motors generally offer the
maximum torque that is twice of the rated torque for overload operation.
 EV motors need to achieve four to five times the base speed for highway cruising, while
industrial motors generally achieve up to twice the base speed for constant-power operation.
 EV motors should be designed according to the vehicle driving profiles and drivers’ habits,
while industrial motors are usually based on a typical working mode.
 EV motors demand both high power density and good efficiency map (high efficiency over
wide speed and torque ranges) for the reduction of total vehicle weight and the extension of
driving range, while industrial motors generally need a compromise among power density,
efficiency and cost with the efficiency optimized at a rated operating point.
 EV motors desire high controllability, high steady-state accuracy and good dynamic
performance for multiple-motor coordination, while only special purpose industrial motors
desire such performance.
 EV motors need to be installed in mobile vehicles with harsh operating conditions such as
high temperature, bad weather and frequent vibration, while industrial motors are generally
located in fixed places. Apart from satisfying the aforementioned special requirements, the
design of EV motors also depends on the system technology of EVs. From the technological
point of view, the following key issues should be considered:

(1) Single- or multiple-motor configurations-

One adopts a single motor to propel the driving wheels, while another uses multiple motors
permanently coupled to individual driving wheels. The single-motor configuration has the merit of
using only one motor which can minimize the corresponding size, weight and cost.

On the other hand, the multiple-motor configuration takes the advantages to reduce the
current/power ratings of individual motors and evenly distribute the total motor size and weight.
Also, the multiple-motor one needs additional precaution to allow for fault tolerance during the
electronic differential action.

For instance, each motor may have its own controller which is controlled by a master controller.
The functional block diagrams of single- and dual-motor configurations are shown in Fig. 5.2,
while their comparison is listed in Table 5.1. Since these two configurations have their individual
merits, both of them have been employed by modern EVs. For examples, the single-motor
configuration has been adopted in the GM EV1 while the dual-motor configuration has been
adopted in the NIES Luciole. Nevertheless, the use of single-motor configuration is still the
majority today.

(2) Fixed- or variable-gearing transmissions-

It is also classified as single-speed and multiple-speed transmissions. The former adopts single-
speed fixed gearing, while the latter uses multiple-speed variable gearing together with the gearbox
and clutch.

Based on fixed-gearing transmission, the motor should be so designed that it can provide both high
instantaneous torque (3 to 5 times the rated value) in the constant-torque region and high operating
speed (3 to 5 times the base speed) in the constant-power region.
On the other hand, the variable gearing transmission provides the advantage of using conventional
motors to achieve high starting torque at low gear and high cruising speed at high gear.

However, there are many drawbacks on the use of variable gearing such as the heavy weight, bulky
size, high cost, less reliable and more complex. Table 5.2 gives a comparison of fixed-gearing and
variable-gearing transmissions. Actually, almost all the modern EVs adopt fixed-gearing
transmission

Geared or gearless-(geared and gearless in-wheel motor configurations)

The use of fixed-speed gearing with a high gear ratio allows EV motors to be designed for high-
speed operation, resulting high power density.

The maximum speed is limited by the friction and windage losses as well as transaxle tolerance. On
the other hand, EV motors can directly drive the transmission axles or adopt the in-wheel drive
without using any gearing (gearless operation).

However, it results the use of low-speed outer-rotor motors which generally suffer from relatively
low power density.

The breakeven point is whether this increase in motor size and weight can be outweighed by the
reduction of gearing. Otherwise, the additional size and weight will cause suspension problems in
EVs. Both of them have been employed by modern EVs.

The functional block diagrams of geared and gearless in-wheel motor configurations are shown in
Fig. 5.3. For examples, the high-speed geared inner-rotor in-wheel motor has been adopted in the
NIES Luciole while the low-speed gearless out-rotor in-wheel motor was adopted in the TEPCO
IZA.

Nevertheless, with the advent of compact planetary gearing, the use of high-speed planetary-geared
in-wheel motors is becoming more attractive than the use of low-speed gearless in-wheel motors.
Classification of EV motors
Electric motors have been available for over a century. The evolution of motors, unlike that of
electronics and computer science, has been long and relatively slow.

Nevertheless, the development of motors is continually fueled by new materials, sophisticated

topologies, powerful computer-aided design (CAD) as well as modern power electronics and
microelectronics.

As illustrated in Fig. 5.4, those motors applicable to electric propulsion can be classified as two
main groups, namely the commutator motors and commutatorless motors.

The former simply denote that they generally consist of the commutator, while the latter have no
commutator.

Moreover, the shaded motor types indicate that they have ever been adopted by recent EVs. Table
5.3 also illustrates their recent applications to flagship EVs.

To keep up with the stringent requirement and fast changing motor topologies, the design of motors
have turned to CAD. Basically, there are two major design approaches-circuit and field.

In essence, the circuit approach is based on equivalent circuit analysis while the field approach
depends on electromagnetic field analysis. The field approach takes the advantages of more accurate
results, greater knowledge of the critical areas as well as capabilities of handling complicated
machine geometry and nonlinear materials. Recently, the finite element method (FEM) has been
regarded as one of the most powerful tools for electromagnetic field analysis of EV motors.
The FEM outranks other numerical methods because of its flexibility and applicability in stress and
thermal field analyses. Moreover, with the use of computer graphics, the analysis can be carried out
visually and interactively.

The basic consideration of motor design includes magnetic loading-the peak of fundamental
component of radial flux density in the air-gap of the motor, electric loading-the total r.m.s. current
per unit length of periphery of the motor or ampere-turns per unit periphery, power per unit volume
and weight, torque per unit volume and weight, flux density at each part of the magnetic circuit,
speed, torque and power, losses and efficiency, and thermal design and cooling.

The corresponding key issues are better utilization of steel, magnet and copper, better
electromagnetic coupling, better geometry and topology, better thermal design and cooling,
understanding the limits on the motor performance, and understanding the relationship among
geometry, dimensions, parameters and performance, thus to achieve higher power per unit weight,
higher torque per unit weight and better performance.
Recent EV motors
Traditionally, dc commutator motors have been loosely named as dc motors. Their control principle
is simple because of the orthogonal disposition of field and armature mmfs.

By replacing the field winding of dc motors with PMs, PM dc motors permit a considerable
reduction in stator diameter due to the efficient use of radial space.

Owing to the low permeability of PMs, armature reaction is usually reduced and commutation is
improved. However, the principle problem of dc motors, due to their commutators and brushes,
makes them less reliable and unsuitable for maintenance-free operation.

Nevertheless, because of mature technology and simple control, dc motors have ever been
prominent in electric propulsion. Actually, various types of dc motors, including series, shunt,
separately excited and PM excited, have ever been adopted by recent EVs.

Recently, technological developments have pushed commutatorless motors to a new era, leading to
take the advantages of higher efficiency, higher power density, lower operating cost, more reliable
and maintenance-free over dc commutator motors.

As high reliability and maintenance-free operation are prime considerations for electric propulsion
in EVs, commutatorless motors are becoming attractive. Induction motors are a widely accepted
commutatorless motor type for EV propulsion because of their low cost, high reliability and free
from maintenance.

However, conventional control of induction motors such as variable-voltage variable-frequency

(WVF) cannot provide the desired performance.

One major reason is due to the nonlinearity of their dynamic model. With the advent of
microcomputer era, the principle of field-oriented control (FOC) of induction motors has been
accepted to overcome their control complexity due to the nonlinearity.

Notice that FOC is also known as vector control or decoupling control. Nevertheless, these EV
induction motors employing FOC still suffer from low efficiency at light loads and limited constant-
power operating region.

Recently, an on-line efficiency-optimizing control scheme has been developed for these EV
induction motors which can reduce the consumed energy by about 10% and increase the
regenerative energy by about 4%, leading to extend the driving range of EVs by more than 14%.

On the other hand, an electrically pole changing scheme has been developed for EV induction
motors,which can significantly extend the constant-power operating region to over four times the
base speed. By replacing the field winding of conventional synchronous motors with PMs, PM
synchronous motors can eliminate conventional brushes, slip-rings and field copper losses.

Actually, these PM synchronous motors are also called as PM brushless ac motors or sinusoidal-fed
PM brushless motors because of their sinusoidal ac current and brushless configuration.
As these motors are essentially synchronous motors, they can run from a sinusoidal or PWM supply
without electronic commutation.

When PMs are mounted on the rotor surface, they behave as non-salient synchronous motors
because the permeability of PMs is similar to that of air. By burying those PMs inside the magnetic
circuit of the rotor, the saliency causes an additional reluctance torque which leads to facilitate a
wider speed range at constant-power operation.

On the other hand, by abandoning the field winding or PMs while purposely making use of the rotor
saliency, synchronous reluctance motors are generated.

These motors are generally simple and cheap, but with relatively low output power. Similar to
induction motors, those PM synchronous motors usually employ FOC for high-performance
applications.

Because of their inherent high power density and high efficiency, they have been accepted to have
great potential to compete with induction motors for EV applications. Recently, a self-tuning control
has been developed for PM synchronous motors which can enable them to achieve optimal
efficiency throughout the operating region.

By virtually inverting the stator and rotor of PM dc motors, PM brushless dc motors are generated.
Notice that the name containing the ‘dc’ term may be misleading, since it does not refer to a dc
current motor.

Actually, these motors are fed by rectangular ac current, hence also called as rectangular-fed PM
brushless motors.

The most obvious advantage of these motors is the removal of brushes, leading to eliminate many
problems associated with brushes. Another advantage is the ability to produce a larger torque
because of the rectangular interaction between current and flux.

Moreover, the brushless configuration allows more cross-sectional area for the armature winding.
Since the conduction of heat through the frame is improved, an increase in electric loading causes
higher power density.

Different from PM synchronous motors, these PM brushless dc motors generally operate with shaft
position sensors. Recently, a phased ecoupling PM brushless dc motor has been developed for EVs,
which offers the merits of outstanding power density, no cogging torque and excellent dynamic
performance. Also, it can adopt advanced conduction angle control to greatly extend the constant-
power operating range.

SR motors have been recognized to have considerable potential for EV applications. Basically, they
are direct derivatives of single-stack variable-reluctance stepping motors.

SR motors have the definite advantages of simple construction, low manufacturing cost and
outstanding torque-speed characteristics for EV propulsion. Although they possess the simplicity in
construction, it does not imply any simplicity of their design and control. Because of the heavy
saturation of pole tips and the fringe effect of poles and slots, their design and control are difficult
and subtle.

Also, they usually exhibit acoustic noise problems. Recently, an optimum design approach to SR
motors has been developed which employs finite element analysis to minimize the total motor losses
while taking into account the constraints of pole arc, height and maximum flux density. Also, fuzzy
sliding mode control has been developed for those EV SR motors

so as to handle the motor non-linearity’s and minimize the control chattering. Recently, a new
research direction has been identified on the development of PM hybrid motors for EV applications.

In principle, there are many PM hybrids in which three of them have been actively investigated,
namely the PM and reluctance hybrid, the PM and hysteresis hybrid, and the PM and field-winding
hybrid. Firstly, by burying PMs inside the magnetic circuit of rotor, the PM synchronous motor can
easily incorporate both PM torque and synchronous reluctance torque.

In order to evaluate the aforementioned EV motor types, a point grading system is adopted.

The grading system consists of six major characteristics and each of them is graded from 1 to 5
points. As listed in Table 5.4, this evaluation indicates that induction motors are relatively most
acceptable. When the cost and maturity of PM brushless (including ac or dc) motors have significant
improvements, these motors will be most attractive.

Conventional dc motors seem to be losing their competitive edges, whereas both SR and PM hybrid
motors have increasing potentials for EV propulsion.

VEHICLE LOAD FACTORS

• Load factor i.e. how much of the capacity of the truck is used.

• For cars, buses and coaches, we use the term ‘occupancy’ while for vans and trucks we use
‘load factor’.
 • A high occupancy rate in passenger cars, buses and coaches has relatively little impact on
overall vehicle weight. For freight, the relationship is more complex, as a higher load factor
is likely to result in a significant increase in vehicle weight and therefore in more energy use
and emissions.

Passenger vehicles occupancy:

• The occupancy of cars, buses and coaches can be indicated by the absolute values of
passengers being transported by each vehicle type (e.g. average number of passengers) or the
occupancy rate.

• Occupancy rates = passenger-kilometres / vehiclekilometres.

Load factor for goods transport:

• The load factor is the ratio of the average load to total freight capacity in tonnes.

• The load factor = the number of tonne-km / the number of vehiclekm

Example: Specifically, the load factor is the dimensionless ratio of passenger-kilometers travelled to
seat-kilometers available. For example, say that on a particular day an airline makes 5 scheduled
flights, each of which travels 200 kilometers and has 100 seats, and sells 60 tickets for each flight.
To calculate its load factor:

Thus, during that day the airline flew 60,000 passenger-kilometers and 100,000 seat-kilometers, for
an overall load factor of 60% (0.6).

Vehicle Acceleration:
A car's acceleration is calculated when the car is not in motion (0 mph), until the amount of time it
takes to reach a velocity of 60 miles per hour. This means that the initial velocity is zero and the
final velocity is 60 miles per hour.

Acceleration Force:
If the velocity of the vehicle is changing, then clearly a force will need to be applied in

addition to the forces. This force will provide the linear acceleration of the vehicle, and

is given by the well-known equation derived from Newton’s third law,

Fla = ma (8.4)

However, for a more accurate picture of the force needed to accelerate the vehicle we

should also consider the force needed to make the rotating parts turn faster. In other
words, we need to consider rotational acceleration as well as linear acceleration. The

main issue here is the electric motor – not necessarily because of its particularly high

moment of inertia, but because of the higher angular speeds.

Referring to Figure 8.2, clearly the axle torque equals Fter, where r is the radius of

the tyre and Fte is the tractive effort delivered by the powertrain. If G is the gear ratio of the

system connecting the motor to the axle and T is the motor torque, then we can say that

We will use this equation again when we develop final equations for vehicle performance.

We should also note axle angular speed equals v/r radians per second, so motor angular

speed is