Application of Cuk converter together with battery technologies on the low voltage DC supply for electric vehicles

Electric vehicles (EVs) have becoming more and more popular, and although there is no doubt that motor is the key part of a functional EV, it is generally accepted that the battery is the critical component and a main obstacle of the development of EVs. In this paper, some advanced research and technology of batteries is presented and compared one by one, especially those adopted by flagship EV automakers. Some emerging batteries which have great potential for future EVs are also discussed. Based on this, the paper studies the application in EV of Cuk converter, which can be regarded as a combination of boost converter and buck converter, on the low voltage side DC supply electric vehicles together with the batteries, and even super-capacitors which have unique characteristics. Further research and design is given regarding to multi-switching of the DC-DC topology.