A hybrid-source switched-capacitor multilevel converter for electric vehicles

This paper proposes a new hybrid-source switched-capacitor multilevel converter for electric vehicles. The key is to integrate the battery-ultracapacitor hybrid power source into the switched-capacitor multilevel converter. Hence, the problem of high capacitive charging current of the switched-capacitor multilevel converter can be solved, and the dynamic voltage equalization of battery packs can be implemented. In addition, the ultacapacitor can help absorb the regenerative pulse power to improve the battery life, and lower the equivalent series resistance to improve the efficiency. A new converter circuit topology and its control strategy are presented. The simulation results validate that the proposed converter is particularly attractive for electric vehicles.