Abstract
Traction inverter, as a critical component in electrified transportation, has been the subject of many research projects in terms of topologies, modulation, and control schemes. Recently, some of the well-known electric vehicle manufacturers have utilized higher-voltage batteries to benefit from lower current, higher power density, and faster charging times. With the ongoing trend toward higher DC-link voltage in electric vehicles, some multilevel structures have been investigated as a feasible and efficient option for replacing the two-level inverters. Higher efficiency, higher power density, better waveform quality, and inherent fault-tolerance are the foremost advantages of multilevel inverters which make them an attractive solution for this application. This paper presents an investigation of the advantages and disadvantages of higher DC-link voltage in traction inverters, as well as a review of the recent research on multilevel inverter topologies for electrified transportation applications. A comparison of multilevel inverters with their two-level counterpart is conducted in terms of efficiency, cost, power density, power quality, reliability, and fault tolerance. Additionally, a comprehensive comparison of different topologies of multilevel inverters is conducted based on the most important criteria in transportation electrification. Future trends and possible research areas are also discussed.
Highlights
Electrified transportation has been considered as a promising solution to many issues caused by its gas-fueled counterpart
In [4], a comparison has been made between passenger EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) in terms of the time required for an 845 km inter-city travel
The goal of this paper is to investigate the use of multilevel inverters in traction drives and compare the available topologies, both classic and advanced ones, in terms of efficiency, power density, power quality, cost, and reliability
Summary
Electrified transportation has been considered as a promising solution to many issues caused by its gas-fueled counterpart. Employing multilevel inverters in traction drives has been the topic of several studies, they have not been used widely in low-power transportation electrification yet. While these structures are being used in high-power electric trains and ships [17], [20], [21], lower-power vehicles like electric buses and passenger EVs are equipped with the conventional 2-level inverter due to their lower DC-link voltage and simplicity in design and implementation [22]. The goal of this paper is to investigate the use of multilevel inverters in traction drives and compare the available topologies, both classic and advanced ones, in terms of efficiency, power density, power quality, cost, and reliability.
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