An analysis and design of high gain Z-source DC–DC converter fed induction motor drive for electric vehicles

Abstract

This paper focuses on Z-source DC–DC converter fed by an induction motor as a powerful candidate for electric vehicle (EV) applications. Fuel cell powered Z-source DC–DC converter provides high gain with lower voltage stresses on the capacitor to integrate it to the drive system. Higher gain is achieved through a diode and a capacitor. Reduction of voltage stress of the capacitors in the Z-source network and of those in the output is achieved by varying the position of the input source and the output capacitor. The gain enhancement and the decrement of voltage stress in the capacitors are compared with those of their contemporaries and are presented in this article. The converter is fed to the motor through an inverter controlled by using Direct Torque Control (DTC) scheme with Space Vector Modulation (SVM) technique. For speeds up to and above the rated speed, the drive system shows good dynamic performance in terms of better speed response and low torque ripple. This leads to low noise and mechanical vibration of the motor. The superiority of the proposed scheme is presented along with the simulation results in MATLAB Simulink environment to validate its application for electric vehicle applications.