The effect of fully electric vehicles on the low frequency electromagnetic environment

The rapid development of fully electric vehicles, their charging systems and their increasing availability to the general public presents both the automotive industry and consumers with some new challenges. Electromagnetic compatibility has been well understood by the industry, but the deployment of high power inverter drives as part of the powertrain is currently not covered by automotive EMC standards. Of particular concern are potentially high levels of low frequency magnetic field emissions both when the vehicle is in use, and when using some charging systems. This leads to the possibility that levels set for the protection of persons exposed to low frequency electromagnetic fields are exceeded. This paper concludes that additional requirements are required for radiated emission testing of electric vehicles and that low frequency emissions can be high enough to merit consideration in the design stage of the vehicle and during installation of the drive train. In addition, it provides some guidance on installation of in-vehicle high power electronics to mitigate emissions effects on the electromagnetic environment.