Inverter and Motor Optimization with SiC Technology
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Inverter and Motor Optimization with SiC Technology New silicon carbide Mosfets increase the efficiency of electric drivetrain and inverters. Compared to silicon IGBTs, they enable longer ranges and fast charging at 800 V. Within a test campaign on an integrated axle drive equipped with an 800-V SiC inverter, Vitesco Technologies determined the relevant factors for a perfectly balanced system when it comes to efficiency.
© Vitesco Technologies
The efficiency of the inverter influences the amount of energy in the battery that is used for propulsion and is directly linked to the range of the vehicle. In today’s 400-V inverter class, silicon Insulated-gate Bipolar Transistors (Si IGBT) are used as switching elements for pulse control of the electric motor. g
AUTHORS
Dr. Gerd Rösel is Head of Innovation Department in the Business Unit for Drive Systems at Vitesco Technologies in Regensburg (Germany).
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Petra Mönius is Head of Innovation Power Electronics at Vitesco Technologies in Nuremberg (Germany).
Dr.-Ing. Sachar Spas is Technical Project Manager Innovation e-Machines & Axle Drives at Vitesco Technologies in Berlin (Germany).
Nico Daun is Team Leader Innovation e-Machines & Axle Drives at Vitesco Technologies in Berlin (Germany).
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Switching frequencies between 8 to 10 kHz with a voltage slew rate (dU/dt) of 5kV/µs are established and an efficiency around 90 % are the base for a good standard inverter. With the development of SiC Mosfets (Silicon-carbide Metal Oxide Semicon ductor Field Effect Transistor) in auto motive inverter applications, a new technology rises to enhance the overall efficiency even further. On the one hand, already at 400 V, efficiency gains of 3 % are possible only by using suitable SiC mosfets, FIGURE 1. Never theless, for the transition to 800-V systems, SiC Mosfets are a prerequisite, because of the increased switching losses in Si semiconductors that would exceed acceptable limits regarding efficiency, FIGURE 2. Since fast charging with high DC currents, so-called DC superfast charging, and same wire cross-section requires an 800-V system, appropriate SiC power semicon ductors will rise to a key technology to efficiently use this voltage level. Vitesco Technologies is developing a modular inverter concept for the transition from 400 to 800 V. The technology platform is the fourth generation of the integrated electric axle drive Electronics Motor Reducer Generation 4 (EMR4). The axle drive EMR4 is a further development of the EMR3 that launched large scale pro duction in China 2019 and is integrated in several European and Asian OEM applications.
FIGURE 1 Higher efficiency switching in SiC inverters in comparison to today’s Si technology at 400 V with the same slew rate of 5 kV/µs and 10 kHz clock frequency in WLTP (© Vitesco Technologies)
SIC CHARACTERISTICS AND ADVANTAGES
An SiC inverter is capable of considerably higher switching frequencies and voltage slew rates than its Si counterpart. Therefore, the pulsed electrical signal
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