Dynamic Wireless Charging of Medium Power and Speed Electric Vehicles

Abstract

For a broad range of industrial, service, and household electric vehicles, dynamic charging is a viable option for energy replenishing that could reduce the size of the onboard energy storage, remove range limitations, and increase operating time. For these systems, timely detection of an approaching vehicle and the detection of strong coupling conditions between transmitter and receiver coils are of prime interest. A novel method is proposed in this article, which utilizes the existing embedded transmitter coil and power electronics modules to establish a precise detection system based on the power footprint of a traveling receiver. Next, a control algorithm is proposed to control charger activation and deactivation time accurately and deliver the required energy during the maximum coupling of the coils. The proposed sigmoid-curve-based control algorithm achieves a robust, speed-independent, smooth transition between two states while providing fast dynamics for aligned and misaligned conditions. Finally, a novel approach to test high-speed dynamic charging in laboratory conditions based on the receiver emulator is developed and used for experimental validation. The vehicle detection and control techniques have been validated through simulations and experimentally on a speed-controlled dynamic charging test station for a wide speed range. The proposed method does not require any additional hardware, sensing devices, or high-speed communication between the vehicle and the charging infrastructure.