A load dump transient subduer for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

The increasing electrical power demand in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles is pushing the development of high power and high voltage electrical components in their drivetrains. However, the introduction of higher voltage levels give rise to many challenges, one of which is the production of overvoltages in drivetrain of vehicle resulting from sudden alternator unloading. This paper presents a load dump transient subduer for suppressing these overvoltages. The internal details of the subduer are provided in addition to its operation. The MATLAB/SimElectronics based model and associated results are also provided to assess the suitability of the presented system.