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Upgrade bring multiple comms

A controller for EV charging systems has been upgraded with a range of comms links (writes Nick Flaherty). The CC613 charge controller from Bender adds connections to Ethernet, Modbus and a powerline communication modem to give developers flexibility in the design of a charging system. This is increasingly important...

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Three-phase SiC module cuts losses

Cissoid in Belgium has launched a three-phase water-cooled SiC MOSFET intelligent power module (IPM) for e-mobility (writes Nick Flaherty). The 1200 V/450 A module has built-in gate drivers, and is designed to optimise the electrical, mechanical and thermal design of the power module and control for electric car OEMs...

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All-in one unit for electric drives

FTCAP in Germany has developed and manufactured a low-inductance capacitor unit that, together with a heat sink and housing, forms an integrated electromechanical device for high-efficiency electric drives (writes Nick Flaherty). The development is part of the H3Top project in collaboration...

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Long trip? Make the car longer

Renault has developed a ‘shapeshifting’ electric car that becomes longer to allow an additional battery pack to be added (writes Nick Flaherty). The 4.4 m-long ‘City’ version of the Morphoz has a 40 kWh battery pack that gives it a range of 400 km. This would be suitable for 90% of local journeys that drivers typically...

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Repurposing Tesla S batteries

EMUS is rolling out a battery management system (BMS) specifically to reuse battery packs from the Tesla Model S (writes Nick Flaherty). The Tesla’s 24 V DC packs have a rated capacity of 5.3 kWh, and consist of six modules. The key is that the cells in each module can end up with different performance characteristics...

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Solar charging’s looking up

Hyundai has developed a roof-mounted solar charging system that connects directly to the powertrain of an electric vehicle (writes Nick Flaherty). Previous roof implementations have used the energy generated to power ancillary equipment such as entertainment systems or...

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Inverter designs gain traction

ON Semiconductor has launched a family of power modules and two reference designs aimed at high-voltage automotive traction inverters (writes Nick Flaherty). The first two VE-Trac modules are intended for main traction inverters of all types of electrically powered vehicles including battery-electric vehicles, plugin hybrids and full hybrids. There are two inverter design platforms for...

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Snow problem for torque software

Porsche Engineering has developed a torque control system for EVs that provides stability in environments such as snow without the need for additional sensors (writes Nick Flaherty). An electric all-wheel-drive vehicle with multiple motors has a key advantage in allowing variable distribution of the drive power every millisecond. This compares to a conventional all-wheel-drive vehicle, where the power is...

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Cutting edge power analysis

Testing and validation of e-drives is a vital element of electric vehicle development, and Japanese manufacturer Yokogawa hopes its latest WT5000 power analyser will be a potent tool for engineers involved in such work. The manufacturer states...

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Gearbox offers e-drive options

Drexler Automotive has developed a modular multi-speed gearbox for EVs (writes Nick Flaherty). Working with German design house Sala Drive, the gearbox has up to 922 Nm input torque, up to 580 kW input power and optional single or dual e-motor drives on the same axle. There is also a move to two-speed transmission powertrains to increase the...