Module – 4

EV Motors
Dr. Jayasankar V N
Associate Professor
Department of EEE
NIE Mysuru

Department of EEE, NIE Mysuru Electric Vehicles - Module 4 1

 Characteristic curves of a traction machine
• For vehicular applications, the ideal performance characteristic
of a power plant is a constant power output over the full
speed range.
• Consequently, the torque varies with speed hyperbolically.
• With this ideal profile, the maximum power of the power plant
will be available at any vehicle speed, therefore yielding optimal
vehicle performance.
• However, in practice, the torque is constrained to be constant in
low speed, so as not to be over the maxima limited by the Ideal performance
adhesion between the tire–ground contact area. characteristics for a
vehicle traction power
• This constant torque characteristic will provide the vehicle with plant
high tractive effort at low speeds where demands for
acceleration, drawbar pull, or grade climbing capability are high.

Department of EEE, NIE Mysuru Electric Vehicles - Module 4 2

 Characteristic curves of a traction machine
• Electric motors with good speed adjustment control usually have a speed–torque
characteristic that is much closer to the ideal.
• Electric motors have three major segments in its torque-speed characteristics:
(1) constant torque region
(2) constant power region
(3) natural mode region.

Electric motor torque-speed envelope

Department of EEE, NIE Mysuru Electric Vehicles - Module 4 3

Requirements of EVs on Electric Motor Drives
• The requirements of EVs on Electric Motor drives are much more demanding than that for
industrial applications.
• High torque density and high power density
• Wide speed range, covering low-speed creeping and high-speed cruising
• High efficiency over wide torque and speed ranges
• Wide constant-power operating capability
• High torque capability for electric launch and hill climbing
• High intermittent overload capability for overtaking
• High reliability and robustness for vehicular environment
• Low acoustic noise
• Reasonable cost

Department of EEE, NIE Mysuru Electric Vehicles - Module 4 4

 Choice of Traction machines for EVs
• The choice of traction machine for EVs mainly depends on a number of factors,
including the driver’s expectation, vehicle constraints, and energy source.
• The driver’s expectation is defined by a driving profile
• Acceleration
• maximum speed
• climbing capability
• Braking
• range.
• The vehicle constraints
• volume and weight, depend on the vehicle type, vehicle weight, and
payload.
• The energy source
• batteries, fuel cells, ultracapacitors, flywheels, and various hybrid
sources.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
• Brushed DC Motor Drives
• The ease of use of a brushed permanent-magnet dc motor makes it the machine of
choice for many applications.
• The dc motor has a uniform air gap and develops a rotational torque from the
interaction between a stationary field flux and a rotating current.
• However, while the machine can simply and optimally generate torque, it is
limited in lifetime and durability because of its use of brushes and commutators to
supply the current onto the rotating part of the machine.
• The magnetic field can be produced by a permanent magnet or by an
electromagnet.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs

• In the PM machine, the

armature current Ia from the
armature supply voltage
source Va interacts with the
permanent magnets to
generate torque.
• The wound-field dc
machine uses the field
current of an electromagnet
to generate the field flux,
rather than a permanent
magnet.
Brushed DC Motor Drives

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Brushed DC Motor Drives
Tem = (p/2)If LfIa = kIa (1)
Ea = (p/2)If Lf ωr =kωr (2)
Va = Ea + Ia Ra (3)
Substituting (1) and (2) in (3)
Va = kωr +(Ra/k)Tem
• Rearranging, the torque in terms of input voltage
and angular speed :
𝑘𝑉𝑎 𝑘 2
𝑇𝑒𝑚 = − 𝜔
𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑎 𝑟
• The electromagnetic power developed by the
machine is given by
𝑘𝑉𝑎 𝑘2 2
𝑃𝑒𝑚 = 𝑇𝑒𝑚 𝜔𝑟 = 𝜔𝑟 − 𝜔𝑟
𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑎

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Brushed DC Motor Drives
• The peak torque of the automotive machine is
electronically limited to the rated value Tr(rated)
by increasing Va as 𝜔𝑟 increases.
• The available power increases linearly from zero
speed to the rated speed.
• For a constant for a constant Va, torque-speed
characteristic represents a straight line. 𝑘𝑉𝑎 𝑘 2
• The plot of power versus speed represents a 𝑇𝑒𝑚 = − 𝜔𝑟
𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑎
quadratic equation.
• The torque drops linearly from the stall value 𝑘𝑉𝑎 𝑘2 2
𝑃𝑒𝑚 = 𝑇𝑒𝑚 𝜔𝑟 = 𝜔𝑟 − 𝜔𝑟
Tr(stall) to zero. 𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑎

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Brushed DC Motor Drives – PM DC Motor
• The basic PM dc machine cannot operate in constant-power mode
as there is no mechanism for weakening the field in a
conventional PM dc machine.
• Thus, the basic PM dc machine has two only operating modes:
constant-torque and power-drop-off.
• It is a serious limitation of the PM dc machine to not have a
constant-power or field weakened mode.
• The machine cannot operate at higher speeds as the machine is
constrained to operate with a maximum speed close to the rated
speed.
• The PM dc machine can be used in single-gear vehicles but
requires a variable gearing mechanism similar to that of a
conventional internal-combustion engine vehicle in order to
operate over the full speed range.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Brushed DC Motor Drives – Using Wound Field DC Machine

• It is desirable, and often necessary, in motion control to operate well above the
rated speed of the machine without exceeding the rated voltage.
• Such high-speed operation can easily be achieved in many machines by using field
weakening.
• Field can be reduced or weakened from the rated value by reducing the field
current and the resulting field flux linkage.
• The WF dc machines use an electromagnet rather than a permanent magnet to
generate the field.
• While the field winding adds complexity and machine loss, it enables the operation
of the WF dc machine at high speeds above the rated speed.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Brushed DC Motor Drives: Using WF DC Machine for EV Powertrain

WF dc motor drive

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Brushed DC Motor Drives: Using WF DC Machine for EV Powertrain
• There are two principal operating modes for the WF dc
machine.
• Constant-torque mode: In the speed range of lower than
the base speed, the armature current and field are set at
their rated values, producing the rated torque.
• The armature voltage must be increased proportionally
with the increase of the speed.
• At the base speed, the armature voltage reaches its rated
value (equal to the source voltage) and cannot be
increased further.
• The maximum torque is limited to Tr = Tr rated

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Brushed DC Motor Drives: Using WF DC Machine for EV Powertrain

• Constant-power mode: In order to increase the speed

above rated value, the field current is decreased and thus
the field is weakened with the increase of the speed.
• By field weakening, the back EMF E and armature current
are maintained constant.
• In this mode, the machine can output constant power and
the rotor torque available decreases inversely with rotor
speed, and so the maximum torque is limited to Tr = Pr,rated
ωr
• The torque produced drops parabolically with the increase
of the speed and the output power remains constant

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Induction Motor Drives
• Commutator-less motor drives offer a number of advantages over conventional DC
commutator motor drives for the electric propulsions of EVs.
• At present, induction motor drives are the mature technology among commutator-less
motor drives.
• Compared with DC motor drives, the AC induction motor drive has additional advantages
such as
• Lightweight nature
• Small volume
• Low cost
• High efficiency.
• Because of the high cost, need for maintenance, and lack of sturdiness, wound-rotor
induction motors are less attractive than their squirrel-cage counterparts, especially for
electric propulsion in EVs
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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Induction Motor Drives

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Speed Control by Changing the Supply Frequency

• Torque-slip characteristics – variable f, constant v/f

• Slip at maximum torque decreases with

freq. increasing.
• Torque increases with increase in frequency
at low slip.
• Maximum torque does not vary with
frequency.
• A power electronic converter (AC/DC
converter) is connected in the input of
induction motor, which can generate AC
voltage with variable frequency and
variable amplitude. Torque-slip characteristics at variable
f and constant (v/f)

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Speed Control by Changing the Supply Frequency

• Constant-torque mode
• For speeds less than ω0 (corresponding to base
frequency f0), ‘V/f’ is kept constant, so that the
maximum motor torque remains constant and the
motor can drive a constant torque load.
• Constant-power mode
• For speeds higher than the base speed, V cannot be Torque–speed profile with
increased further, since it reaches its rated value at variable frequency, but constant
base speed. V/f ratio

• So ‘V/f’ in this speed region is allowed to reduce

and the motor torque reduces proportional to the
(V/f )2.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Induction Motor Drives
• The induction machine works as a generator when it is
operated with a negative slip, i.e., the synchronous
speed is less than the motor speed (ωm > ωe).
• The negative slip makes the electromagnetic torque
negative during regeneration or generating mode.
• In the negative slip mode of operation, the voltages
and currents induced in the rotor bars are of opposite
polarity compared to those in the positive slip mode.
• The electromagnetic torque acts on the rotor to oppose
the rotor rotation, thereby decelerating the vehicle.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives
• The machines that use magnets to produce air-gap magnetic flux instead of field coils as in
DC commutator machines or magnetizing component of stator current as in induction
machines are called PM machines.
• This configuration eliminates the rotor copper loss as well as the need for maintenance of
the field exciting circuit.
• The PM machines can be broadly classified into two categories:
• PM synchronous machines (PMSM): These machines have uniformly rotating stator
field as in induction machines. The induced waveforms are sinusoidal
• PM trapezoidal or brushless DC machines (PM BLDC): The induced voltages in
these machines are trapezoidal in nature; the phase currents are rectangular or square
wave in nature.The stator field is switched in discrete steps with square wave pulses.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives - principle
• BLDC motor drive consists mainly of the BLDC
machine, the digital signal processor (DSP) based
controller, and the power electronics-based power
converter.
• Position sensors H1, H2, and H3 sense the position
of the machine rotor.
• The rotor position information is fed to the DSP-
based controller, which, in turn, supplies gating
signals to the power converter by turning on and Winding
turning off the proper stator pole windings of the configuration of the
machine. trapezoidal-shaped
back EMF BLDC.
• In this way, the torque and speed of the machines
are controlled.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives - principle
• ea, eb, and ec, are the line-to-neutral back
EMF voltages, the result of the PM flux
crossing the air gap in a radial direction
and cutting the coils of the stator at a
rate proportional to the rotor speed.
• The coils of the stator are positioned in
the standard three-phase full-pitch,
concentrated arrangement, and thus the
phase trapezoidal back EMF waveforms
are displaced by 120◦ electrical degrees.
• Each phase current is flowing for 2/3 of
an electrical 360◦ period, 120◦ positively
and 120◦ negatively.
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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives - Advantages
• High efficiency: PMs for the excitation, consume no power. The absence of mechanical
commutator and brushes; low mechanical friction losses and therefore higher efficiency.
• Compactness: The high-energy density magnets; very high flux densities; high torques,
making the motor small and light.
• Ease of control: The control variables are easily accessible and constant throughout the
operation of the motor.
• Ease of cooling: There is no current circulation in the rotor. Therefore, the rotor of a BLDC
motor does not heat up.
• Low maintenance, great longevity, and reliability: The absence of brushes and mechanical
commutators suppresses the need for associated regular maintenance.
• Low noise emissions: There is no noise associated with the commutation because it is
electronic and not mechanical. The driving converter switching frequency is high enough so
that the harmonics are not audible.
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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives - Disadvantages
• Cost: Rare-earth magnets are much more expensive than other magnets and result in an
increased motor cost.
• Limited constant power range: The PM BLDC motor is incapable of achieving a maximum
speed greater than twice the base speed – narrow constant power region.
• Safety: If the wheel is spinning freely: the motor is still excited by its magnets and high
voltage is present at the motor terminals that can possibly endanger the passengers or
rescuers.
• Magnet demagnetization: Magnets can be demagnetized by large opposing magnetomotive
forces and high temperatures. Great care must be brought to cooling the motor, especially if
it is built compact.
• High-speed capability: The surface-mounted PM motors cannot reach high speeds because
of the limited mechanical strength of the assembly between the rotor yoke and the PMs.
• Inverter failures in BLDC motor drives: Because of the PMs on the rotor, BLDC motors
present major risks in the case of short-circuit failures of the inverter.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives – Torque vs. speed characteristics
• The torque is produced by the interaction of magnetic field and current.
• The magnetic field is produced in BLDC by the PM, and the current depends on the source voltage,
control, and the back EMF, which is determined by the magnetic field and speed of the machine.
• To obtain the desired torque and speed at a given load, the current needs to be controlled.

• For steady-state operation,

Simplified equivalent circuit of the BLDC motor.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives – Torque vs. speed characteristics

• Equations are very similar to E = K · ϕ · ω and T = K · ϕ · I

equations associated with regular DC machines.
• Therefore, a PM BLDC machine can be considered to
behave like a DC machine.
• At low speed, especially while starting, very high torque is
produced, which results in very high current due to the low
back EMF. Speed–torque curve in the steady
• This very high current would damage the stator windings. state with constant voltage

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives – Torque vs. speed characteristics

• With variable voltage supply, the winding current

can be restricted to its maximum by actively
controlling the voltage; thus a maximum constant
torque can be produced

Speed–torque curve in the steady state

with variable voltage supply

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives – Torque vs. speed characteristics
• Region 1: Constant Torque Region
• In the region of constant-torque operation, the
terminal voltage is increased with the increase in
speed.
• The stator current in each phase, are in phase
with the flat region of back-emf to produce flat
torque.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives – Torque vs. speed characteristics
• Region 2: Constant Power Region
• Above the base speed, terminal voltage cannot
be increased. So torque drops linearly with the
speed.
• PM BLDC machines inherently have a short
constant power range due to their rather limited
field weakening capability.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
PM BLDC Drives – Torque vs. speed characteristics
• Region 2: Constant Power Region (Cont.)
• The limited constant power region is due to the
presence of the PM field, which can only be
weakened through production of a stator field
component, which opposes the rotor magnetic
field.
• Additional field windings to be provided to extend
the speed range of PM BLDC motors.
• The key is to control the field current in such a
way that the air gap field provided by PMs can be
weakened during high-speed, constant-power
operation.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Switched Reluctance Machines
• The switched reluctance motor (SRM) is a
doubly salient, singly excited reluctance
machine with independent phase windings on
the stator.
• The stator and the rotor are made of magnetic
steel laminations, with the latter having no
windings or magnets.
• The SRMs can be of various stator–rotor pole Cross-sections of three-phase SR machines:
combinations related to different phase (a) four-phase 8/6 structure;
configurations. (b) 12/8, two-repetition (two-channel) structure.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Switched Reluctance Machines
• Because of the salient nature of both the stator and rotor poles of the SR machine, the
reluctance of the magnetic flux path for each phase winding varies with the rotor position.
• Thus, the principle of torque production is based on the “minimum reluctance” rule, that is,
a rotor pole tends to align with the excited stator pole so that the reluctance of the magnetic
flux path is minimum.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Switched Reluctance Machines
• When a stator phase is
energized, the most adjacent
rotor pole-pair is attracted
toward the energized stator in
order to minimize the
reluctance of the magnetic
path.
SRM and its power supply

Therefore, it is possible to develop constant torque in either direction of rotation by

energizing consecutive phases in succession.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Switched Reluctance Machines – Torque production
• The torque is produced in the SRM by the
tendency of the rotor to attain the minimum
reluctance position when a stator phase is
excited.
• The phase current needs to be synchronized
with the rotor position for effective torque
production.
• For positive or motoring torque, the phase
current is switched such that rotor is moving
from the unaligned position toward the aligned
position.
• The optimum performance of the drive system
depends on the appropriate positioning of
phase currents relative to the rotor angular Relationship between inductance, current and
position. torque positions

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Switched Reluctance Machines - Advantages
• The machine construction is simpler due to the absence of rotor winding and PMs.
• The bulk of the losses in the machine occur in the stator, which is relatively easier to
cool.
• The starting torque of the SRM can be very high without the problem of excessive inrush
current due to its higher self-inductance.
• The maximum permissible rotor temperature is higher.
• The SRMs can be designed with a wide constant power region, which is a feature
particularly attractive for traction applications.
• Since each phase winding is connected in series with converter switching elements, there is
no possibility of shoot-through faults between the DC buses in the SRM drive converter.
• The independent stator phases enable drive operation in spite of loss of one or more
phases, and the drive can be brought to a safe shutdown instead of a sudden stop.
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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Switched Reluctance Machines - Disadvantages
• The double saliency construction and the discrete nature of torque production by the
independent phases lead to higher torque ripple compared to other machines.
• The higher torque ripple also causes the ripple current in the DC supply to be quite large,
necessitating a large filter capacitor.
• The doubly salient structure of the SRM also causes higher acoustic noise compared to
other machines.
• The main source of acoustic noise is the radial magnetic force-induced resonance with
the circumferential mode-shapes of the stator.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Switched Reluctance Machines – Torque–Speed Characteristics
• Region 1:
• In the low-speed region of operation, the
current rises almost instantaneously after turn-
on, since the back-emf is small.
• The current can be set at any desired level by
means of regulators, such as hysteresis
controller or voltage pulse-width modulation
(PWM) controller. Torque–speed characteristics of an SRM drive.
• As the motor speed increases, the back-emf soon becomes comparable to the DC bus
voltage, and it is necessary to phase advance the turn-on angle so that the current can rise
up to the desired level against a lower back-emf.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Switched Reluctance Machines – Torque–Speed Characteristics
• Region 2:
• Above the base speed, the back EMF is higher
than the DC source voltage so that the phase
current is limited by the back EMF.
• In order to feed the current into the phase
winding, the switches of a particular phase
need to be turned on well ahead of the
unaligned position, so that conduction angle is Torque–speed characteristics of an SRM drive.
increased.
• Since the back EMF increases with the rotor speed, the phase current inevitably decreases
and hence the torque drops.
• The higher the rotor speed, the larger the advancing of turn-on angle is required.

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 Evaluation of Motor drives for EVs
Switched Reluctance Machines – Torque–Speed Characteristics
• Region 3:
• The conduction angle upper limit is reached
when it occupies half the rotor pole pitch, i.e.,
half the electrical cycle.
• Conduction angle cannot be increased further
because otherwise the flux would not return to
zero and the current conduction would become
continuous. Torque–speed characteristics of an SRM drive.
• The torque in this region is governed by the
natural characteristics, falling off as 1/ω2.

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 Sizing of motor drives
• Sizing of motor drives means ensuring the vehicle being capable of achieving the
desired performance.
• Basic vehicle performance includes
• Maximum cruising speed
• Gradeability
• Acceleration

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 Sizing of motor drives
a. Maximum Speed
• The maximum speed of a vehicle can be easily found
by the intersection point of the tractive effort curve with
the resistance curve in the tractive effort versus vehicle
speed diagram.
• An intersection point does not exist in some designs,
which usually use a larger traction motor or a large gear
ratio.
• In this case, the maximum vehicle speed is determined
by the maximum speed of the traction motor as Tractive effort versus vehicle speed
𝑁𝑚,𝑚𝑎𝑥 × 𝑟𝑤ℎ 2𝜋
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = ×
𝐺 60
where N m,max is the allowed maximum rpm of the traction motor and G is the minimum
gear ratio of the transmission (highest gear).

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 Sizing of motor drives
b. Gradeability
• Gradeability is usually defined as the grade (or grade
angle) that the vehicle can overcome at a certain constant
speed.
• Gradeability is determined by the net tractive effort of the
vehicle.
• The gradeability at mid- and high speeds is smaller than
that at low speeds.
• The maximum grade that the vehicle can overcome at the Tractive effort of an electric-motor-
given speed can be calculated by powered vehicle with single-speed
transmission and its resistance.
𝑑 − 𝑐𝑅 1 − 𝑑 2 + 𝑐𝑅 2
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼 =
1 + 𝑐𝑅 2
where, d = (Ft − FD)/Mg is called the vehicle performance factor

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 Sizing of motor drives
c. Acceleration
• The acceleration performance of a vehicle is usually described by its acceleration time
and distance covered from zero speed to a certain high speed

where δ is called rotational inertia factor, considering the equivalent mass increase due to
the angular moments of the rotating components
• The acceleration time, ta from 0 to high-speed Vf can be written as
𝑉𝑏 𝑉𝑓
𝑀𝛿 𝑀𝛿
𝑡𝑎 = න 𝑑𝑉 + න 𝑑𝑉
𝑃𝑡 𝑃𝑡ൗ
0 ൗ𝑉 − 𝑀𝑔𝐶𝑅 − 1ൗ2 𝜌𝐴𝐶𝐷 𝑉 2 𝑉𝑏
1
𝑉 − 𝑀𝑔𝐶𝑅 − ൗ2 𝜌𝐴𝐶𝐷 𝑉
2
𝑏
• The first term on the right-hand side of is in correspondence with the speed region less
than the vehicle base speed; the second term is in correspondence with the speed region
beyond the vehicle base speed. It is difficult to obtain the analytical solution.

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 Sizing of motor drives
c. Acceleration (cont.)
• For initial evaluation of acceleration time versus tractive power, one can ignore rolling
resistance and aerodynamic drag and obtain

• The tractive power, Pt, can then be expressed as

• If average drag and rolling power is,

• The vehicle speed V may be expressed, using time t, as

• The total tractive power for accelerating the vehicle from zero to speed Vf in ta seconds
is

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 Sizing of motor drives
Problem
Find the tractive motor drive power rating, if the acceleration time is 10 s to reach a
maximum speed of 100 km/h, the vehicle mass is 1200 kg, the rotational inertia factor is
1.05, the rolling resistance coefficient is 0.01, the aerodynamic drag coefficient is 0.3, wheel
radius 0.3 m, and the front area is 2 m2. Assume the ratio of maximum speed of the motor to
its base speed as 4 and the gear ratio 4. Also compute, base speed and maximum speed of the
motor drive and the maximum gradeability at base speed.
Design equations:

𝑁𝑚,𝑚𝑎𝑥 × 𝑟𝑤ℎ 2𝜋
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = ×
𝐺 60

𝑑 − 𝑐𝑅 1 − 𝑑 2 + 𝑐𝑅 2
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼 = where, d = (Ft − FD)/Mg
1 + 𝑐𝑅 2

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 Sizing of motor drives
Solution

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