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Traction system for an EV based on induction motor and 3-level NPC inverter
multilevel converters

Article · August 2010

DOI: 10.1109/CIEP.2010.5598833

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Mario A. Gonzalez Miguel F. Escalante

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 Traction System for an EV Based on Induction Motor and 3-Level NPC Inverter
0ultilevel&onverters
Mario A. González, Miguel F. Escalante
DIE-FIME-UANL
A.P. 66450
San Nicolás de los Garza, N.L.
MEXICO
[email protected]

Abstract—This work presents the modeling of the dynamics of of the mentioned features [12]. To drive the motor an inverter
an electric vehicle (EV). Then, by using a typical driving cycle, is needed. Two levels inverters are commonly used to drive
the parameters for the motor drive system and other drive train induction motor for electric vehicle traction applications [9],
components are determined. The proposed drive system is based
on an induction motor being supplied by a 3-level NPC inverter. [11] ; however, this type of inverters present some drawbacks
The speed control is based on a constant V/Hz strategy while the as voltage and power ratting limitations, among many others.
inverter is commanded by a Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation Recently, multilevel power converters has been emerged as a
Strategy. The proposed drive system is validated by simulation. technical way to improve motor drives performance. A clear
In one hand, the results show that the implemented V/Hz control advantage of multilevel inverters for motor drive applications
strategy is capable of maintain the reference speed, as demanded
by a driving pattern, and on the other hand, the strategy used is to supply a nearly sinusoidal current waveforms with an
to control de NPC multilevel inverter, is capable of assuring the improved voltage waveform. Furthermore, the lower dv/dt
demanded output voltage and the inverter internal variables are and lower common-mode voltage leads to lower stress on
kept as needed. motor windings and bearings [13], [14], [15]. The three main
Index Terms—Electric Vehicle, EV model, NPC multilevel multilevel topologies are suitable for motor drive application;
converter, Induction motor drive. however, the diode clamped inverter (NPC) topology has been
found to be suitable for drive applications primarily because of
reduced component device ratings and is robust for practical
I. I NTRODUCTION
applications [16], [17]. Associated with multilevel inverter
LECTRIC vehicles are an important step toward solving based drives is the problem of dc bus voltage balancing.
E the environmental problems created by vehicles with
internal combustion engines. Typically, the electric vehicles
However, redundant states offer a method of redistributing the
charge among the dc capacitors[17], [18].
are propelled by an electric motor that is supplied with In this work, an analysis of the motor drive system for
power from a rechargeable battery [1]. The propulsion system an EV is performed, and its representatives parameters are
characteristics for electric vehicles are being inspired in typical determined. The analysis is based on the European ECE− 15
driving cycles observed in typical car utilization and typical driving cycle [4]. The proposed scheme is bases on an
drivers behaviors. Driving cycles intent to reproduce real induction motor and a 3-level NPC inverter. A simplified
driving conditions [2]-[6]. Based on these profiles, the EV capacitor voltage balance strategy combined with a sinusoidal
range can be determined, but also the dynamical behavior modulation strategy (SPWM) is used; the overall modulation
of the vehicle can be analyzed and representatives variables strategy ensures the balance voltage of the neutral point NPC
of the overall system can be obtained; which are needed to multilevel inverter while it supplies the needed voltage to the
properly select and size the motor drive [7], [8]. However, deep motor. The speed control is based on a constant V/Hz strategy.
differences may exit between well-known internal combustion The organization of this work is as follows: In Sec.II and
engines and electrical engines. One of these differences is the Sec.III the EV dynamical model is established to determinate
limited range of EV compared to a quasi-infinite range (with the motor drive electric and mechanical parameters, mainly:
refuel) of typical cars. Furthermore, in automotive propulsion Angular speed, Power and Torque ratting, among others. In
applications the motor drive characteristics are quite different Sec. IV a test under ECE− 15 driving cycle is performed in
from industrial applications. order to determine the motor drive specifications. In Sec.V
The motor drive system is constantly under frequent a Squirrel-cage induction motor is selected as the electrical
start/stop and high acceleration/deceleration rates; hence, the engine with a 3 level NPC multilevel inverter. In Sec.VI
motor drive desired features are: high ratio of torque/inertia numerical results are presented on PSIM software to validate
and power/weight, high maximum torque capability, high the correct operation of the overall system.
speed, low level of audible noise, low maintenance, small
size, low weight, reasonable cost, high efficiency over low II. V EHICLE DYNAMIC M ODEL
and high speed ranges and energy recovery on braking [9], For sake of simplicity the mechanical EV model can be
[10] among others. Squirrel-cage induction motors have most represented by a single mass with several forces acting on it.

978-1-4244-8067-8/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE 73

 where G is the gear ratio, and rwheel is the wheel radius.
Equation (3) is expressed in terms of torque as:
Tω 1
= μrr mg cos(ψ)sign(v) + ρACd v 2 + mg sin(ψ) + ma
rwheel 2
(6)
which determinates the torque required by the electric motor
to move the vehicle under the dynamic imposed by Ftt and
the acceleration.

IV. T EST V EHICLE M ODELING AND D RIVE T RAIN

Fig. 1. a) EV forces, b) EV Main Traction System C OMPONENT S IZING
Exact motor ratings are essential to dimension it properly. A
In Fig. 1 the forces which determine the vehicle dynamic are suitable selection of drive traction is done based on the duties
shown. that need to be satisfied. In case of automotive propulsion,
Starting from the force analysis, it is possible to write: the duties are determinated by dynamic speed versus time
characteristics, which are called a driving schedule or drive

n
Fi = ma cycle . For example, for urban test, the US driving cycles,
i=1 (1)
Ftt − Fop = ma
NYCC, ECE− 15, FTP 72 and the Japanese driving cycle 10
Mode are used. Fig. 2 shows the ECE− 15 driving cycle used
where Ftt is the total force applied to the vehicle and Fop in this work, which presents a top speed of 50 km/hr in an
is the force against the vehicle displacement, given by: interval of 197 seconds for urban driving conditions.
Fop = Frr + Fad + Fhc + Fωa (2)

where Frr , Fad , Fhc and Fω are the friction force, aerodynamic
resistance, climbing force and the force necessary to apply
acceleration to the moving parts, respectively.
Due Fωa is a small force, it is possible neglected it;
therefore, the simplified Ftt force can be expressed as:
1
Ftt = μrr mg cos(ψ)sign(v) + ρACd v 2 + mg sin(ψ) + ma (3)
2
where: μrr is the rolling-resistance coefficient, m is the total
mass of the vehicle, g is the gravitational acceleration, ψ is
grade of the road, ρ is the air density, A is the vehicle frontal
effective area, Cd is the aerodynamic coefficient, v is the speed
of the vehicle. The opposites forces included in the model are:
friction force, aerodynamic resistance, climbing force and the
force necessary to apply acceleration to the moving parts. The
function sign(v) is defined by: Fig. 2. Urban ECE− 15 driving cycle
⎧
⎨ 1 v>0
sign(v) = 0 v=0 The ECE− 15 driving cycle have been used to determinate
⎩ −1 v < 0
the driver needed specifications using equations (3), (4), (5)
and (6) and the following set of EV parameters: A = 1m2 , m
Hence, equation (3) expresses the force necessary to move = 1000kg , ψ = 0◦ , ρ = 1.3 kg/m3 , μrr = 0.0138, g = 9.8m/s2 ,
the vehicle under certain given parameters and acceleration rwheel = 0.19m, Cd = 3.2865. Then, instantaneous Angular
behavior. Speed, Torque and Power requirements were computed and
are summarized in Fig. 3a,b,c respectively.
III. M ODELING OF M OTOR R EQUIREMENTS As clearly shown in Fig. 3c, the maximum average power
The traction force expressed by (3) should be expressed in demand of 7.596 kW occurs at top speed (50 km/hr.). The
terms of the motor traction requirements as torque, angular maximum required Torque is Tmax =216 Nm which is required
speed and power to determinate the motor parameters. It is to accelerate the vehicle from 0 to 34 km/hr in 4 seconds as
possible express the required traction power by: shown in Fig. 3b. Also it was determinated that the maximum
required power is 15 kW to take the vehicle from 0 to 50 km/hr
P = ωTω (4)
in 26 seconds. From the above presented data, if an induction
where ω is the angular speed at the tires, expressed by: motor of 7.596 kW rated power is used, then it should be
v capable to deliver a power ramp going from 7.596 kW to 15
ω=G (5) kW in 10 s.
rwheel
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 signals generated by the SPWM modulator for the superior
switches and the NP voltage level. The strategy control the
current flow through the dc buss capacitors ensuring the NP
voltage level.
TABLE I
S WITCHING STATES AND VOLTAGE LEVEL

Level Switching States Output Voltage

Sw1 Sw2 Sw3 Sw4
1 0 0 1 1 0
2 0 1 1 0 E/2
3 1 1 0 0 E

Fig. 4. NPC split capacitor voltage balance strategy

The used capacitor voltage balance strategy is resumed in

the following functions:
TABLE II
S W ’ S NEW C ONTROL S IGNALS . Cabc∗1 ,Cabc∗2 , Cabc∗3 , Cabc∗4

Modified Phase a Phase b Phase c

Control
Signal

Cabc∗
1 C1 C3 CN P + C1 C3 CN P + C1 C3 CN P +
C1 C 2 C3 C 4 C5 C 6
Cabc∗
2 C1 + C2 + C3 + C4 + C5 + C6 +
C1 C2 C3 CN P C1 C2 C3 CN P C1 C2 C3 CN P

Cabc∗
3 Ca∗
1 Cb∗
1 Cc∗
1
Fig. 3.Mechanical Parameters. a)Angular speed in RPM, b)Torque Cabc∗ Ca∗ Cb∗ Cc∗
4 2 2 2
in Nm, c)Power in watts

Where Cabc∗1 ,Cabc∗2 , Cabc∗3 , Cabc∗4 are the new control

V. 3-L EVEL NPC SPWM BASED I NDUCTION M OTOR signals for all four switches of each phase. C1 − C6 are the
D RIVE AND C APACITOR VOLTAGE BALANCE STRATEGY output control signal from the SPWM modulator and CN P is
the state of the NP voltage.
Since 3 level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter was The Fig. 5 shows a typical 3-level NPC inverter and in Fig.
invented [16], it has practically applied to traction drives, and 6 the typical NPC multilevel waveforms are shown.
others. Recently, attention has been paid to multilevel convert- Based on the selected ratings of the drive train components,
ers intended for higher voltage and higher applications [13], and the capacitor’s inverted balanced voltage is now feasible
[14]. A main motivation of introducing multilevel converters to set a speed control system.
into a motor drive rely on nearly sinusoidal current waveforms
and lower stress on motor bearings and windings. However,
NPC multilevel inverter suffers from voltage imbalance of split B. Induction Motor Drive System Configuration
dc capacitors needing a voltage capacitor control strategy. Using the inverter exposed in section V a simply V /Hz
closed loop speed control is designed using the following
Induction Motor parameters: Prated = 25HP (according to Fig.
A. Capacitor voltage balance strategy 3 ), RP M = 855, Irated = 33A, VRM S = 460V , Rs = 0.399
Table I shows the valid switching states for each arm of the Ω, Ls = 2.53mH, Rr = 0.3 Ω, Lr = 2.54mH, Lm = 59.18mH,
NPC inverter as the level generated from those states and Fig. N.P. = 8, I = 2.32. The inverter modulation strategy is PWM
5 shows the switch Sw1a, sw2a, sw1b, sw2b, sw1c and sw2c sinusoidal. The implemented drive system is shown in Fig. 7.
which control the change of level according to the table I. Fig 4 The motor power rating corresponds to Fig. 3 and the 8 poles
shows the NPC voltage balance strategy using only the control allows to use a gear ratio of 1.

75
 Fig. 7. EV Drive Traction System
Fig. 5. Multilevel NPC drive system

Fig. 6. Obtained waveforms according to the capacitor voltage balance

strategy. a) NP voltage, b) Phase a voltage waveform, c) Vab waveform,
d) Phases a,b,c currents

VI. S IMULATION R ESULTS Fig. 8. Simulation results: a) Real and desired angular speed in RPM, b)
The complete drive system has been simulated in PSIM. Mechanical and Electromagnetic Torque in NM, c) Required Power in watts,
d) Iabc currents in Amp´s, e) Expansion Iabc currents
The speed control loop is performed with a PI controller with
Kp =0.1180 and Ki =0.1011. A switching frequency of 1kHz
was used. As shown in Fig. 8a, the motor speed follows the
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