Comparative evaluation of three-phase PFC rectifiers for mains interfacing of on-board electric vehicle battery charging systems

In this paper, possible power electronics circuits for battery charging of EVs are presented. Suitable three-phase power factor correction rectifier topologies with sinusoidal input currents and controlled output voltage are briefly described and their analytical formulas for calculating the current stresses on the power semiconductors are provided. In addition, a novel 5-level three-phase PFC rectifier with bypass approach is presented and compared with classic topologies. The bypass function enables the converter to switch between one of the available DC-links that best matches the required output levels, depending on the operating point of the sine wave, thus maximizing the efficiency. The comparison is based on dimensionless benchmark factors concerning the semiconductor stresses and the volume of the main passive components. With the adopted method some relevant factors such as total losses and inductor power density are derived and, based on the comparison results, the most suitable topology for this application is chosen.