Induction motor drives for traction application

A solution for the propulsion drive of electric vehicles (EVs) is proposed. DC motor drives, very popular in the early days but presenting many limitations related to maximum speed limits and maintenance, are probably going to be substituted by induction motors, which better match the EVs requirements. Induction motors driven by CRPWM field oriented drives seem to represent a good solution for this application. In fact they allow to obtain a behaviour similar to that of a traditional car, with torque control rather than speed control. Good results in terms of driveability have been obtained adding by an interface block between the pedals and the inverter control. Complete experimental results in terms of energetic balance and total losses are presented in the paper