Design and control of a bidirectional DC/DC converter for an Electric Vehicle

The recent emergence of plug-in electric vehicles in a global market can offer big challenges and opportunities for both basic and applied research. Although the electrical architecture of a Electric Vehicle (EV) or an Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) can be considered standardized, the development of its different building blocks is an open problem whose solution could contribute to improve significantly the global performance of the vehicle. This paper details the design and control of a bidirectional DC/DC converter for an electric vehicle. The particularity of the chosen topology is the DC/DC converter control by means of a sliding mode control, using only one surface. The designed converter has been modelled and simulated together with an inverter, a motor and a load, which form the electric vehicle traction system.