Date of Award:

5-2022

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Abhilash Kamineni (Committee Chair), Regan Zane (Committee Co-Chair)

Committee

Abhilash Kamineni

Committee

Regan Zane

Committee

Nicholas Roberts

Abstract

A global focus on reducing CO2 emissions is leading to the electrification across different sectors. The transportation sector is rapidly transitioning towards adopting Electric Vehicles (EVs) to replace internal combustion engine based vehicles. It is achieved by charging the electric battery (energy storage) on the vehicle using electric charging stations. At the time of this writing, according to the Global EV Outlook, Europe and China are leading in the light-duty vehicle space; and China is dominating the electric bus market and electric trucks. Even though the adoption rates are on the rise compared to previous years and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are announcing new EV models, the electric truck sales are still lower compared to other vehicle classes.

The low sales of electric trucks, heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) in general, are largely attributed to the requirements of the high battery capacity to accommodate the long range of operation and high-power chargers for faster charging time. The charger will most likely require a cooled charging connection between the vehicle and the charger due to the physical limitations of the design. HDVs need high power chargers, e.g. a one megawatt (MW) rated charger, that would adhere to similar constraints. Therefore, a potential alternative to conductive charging, inductive power transfer (IPT) charging, also known as wireless charging, is investigated.

IPT is a method that electromagnetically enables the power transfer between the vehicle and the charger. It eliminates the need for a physical connection thus leading to a hands-free system with no human interactions for maximum safety, and erasing the risk of abrasion in the charger connectors and plugs and the weather dependency of the connection. The space of IPT for an HDV application is still in early stages, with chargers offering power levels up to 450 kW.

The technology faces major challenges that affect the performance of the electrical system, such as, but not limited to, the positioning of the charging platforms located on the vehicle side and the ground and maintaining the electromagnetic emissions by the charger within the limits of existing safety standards.

The work covered in this text is focused on the design of the electromagnetically coupled charging platforms on the vehicle side and the ground side. Practical considerations and analysis techniques are presented in the pursuit of designing a one MW IPT charger for an HDV.

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Available for download on Saturday, May 01, 2027

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