Conception of a novel converter topology for higher energy recuperation in electric vehicles

The low cruising range is one of the main points of criticism regarding full electric vehicles and, therefore, the enlargement of the range represents a big challenge on the way to a widely spread acceptance of electric mobility. One starting point for the enhancement of the range is the optimisation of the braking energy recovery. Power inverters in currently available electric cars are not dimensioned for the occurring power during brake applications with high deceleration values. In this paper, a novel converter topology with a second recovery current path, which is connected in parallel to the standard inverter, is presented. A control regulates, that the power of the inverter is limited to the nominal value and that the excessive power is handled by the new recovery path. In simulations the functional capability of this method is illustrated.