Role of high power semiconductor devices in hybrid electric vehicles

A couple of decade ago when auto engineers decided to increase the voltage level of electrical power system drive, it was the advancement of silicon technology supporting their dream. Today the power electronics circuits play an important role in the success of electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. Typical power electronics circuits in hybrid vehicles include electric motor drive circuits and DC/DC converter circuits. Conventional circuit topologies, such as buck converters, voltage source inverters and bidirectional boost converters are facing several challenges such as voltage level, cost, efficiency, size etc. This paper aims at reviewing the use of different power electronics devices in hybrid electric vehicles. The paper will first introduce the power system architectures for HEVs and then go on to exhaustive discussion on the specific applications of DC/DC and DC/AC power electronic converters and other device used in advanced automotive power systems. It also gives responses of converter using PSEVI, which matches the theory.