IoT-Based Supervisory Control of an Asymmetrical Nine-Phase Integrated on-Board EV Battery Charger

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) play a major role in the evolution towards sustainable transportation. The integration of information and communication technology (ICT) into the electric vehicle (EV) charging process has witnessed rapid progress. Wireless communication between EVs has become commercially viable, supporting vehicle-to-sensor, vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-internet regimes. However, EVs still have limited market penetration due to charging process constraints such as charging time and the availability of charging points. This paper considers an asymmetrical nine-phase smart integrated on-board charging (OBC) system with a reduced cost, size and weight. All the propulsion components are utilized in the charging process. Both zero machine average torque production and unity power factor operation at the grid side can simultaneously be obtained during the charging process. Additionally, no hardware reconfiguration is required to allow the transition between propulsion and charging modes for this system topology. Furthermore, the proposed integrated on-board charger is completely monitored, and the charging rate is controlled through a smartphone application via internet of things (IoT) technology, thus optimizing the user experience. A 1.5 kW prototype is implemented to validate the proposed system by rewinding a three-phase induction motor (IM).