DC-DC converters for electric vehicle applications

An integral part of any modern day electric vehicle is power electronic circuits (PECs) comprising of DC-AC inverters and DC-DC converters. A DC-AC inverter supplies the high power electric motor and utility loads such as air-conditioning system, whereas a DC-DC converter supplies conventional low-power, low-voltage loads. However, the need for high power bidirectional DC- DC converters in future electric vehicles has led to the development of many new topologies of DC-DC converters. This paper presents an overview of state-of-the-art DC-DC converters used in battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Several DC-DC converters such as isolated, nonisolated, half-bridge, full-bridge, unidirectional and bidirectional topologies, and their applications in electric vehicles are presented.