REPORT ON

BATTERY ELECTRIC PROJECT

Powertrain Team
Prateek Jain (Team manager)

Tejas Shah (Technical head)

Jyoti Prakash Rath

Nihar Zanwar

Siddharth Purohit

Parth Samnani

Team BITS

Shell Eco Marathon Asia-2019

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 INDEX

Topic Pg. no.

Introduction 3
1. Motor Selection 4
6
2. Motor calculations
2.1. Objective
2.2. Forces of retardation
2.3. Driving force
2.4. Table for load on motor
2.5. Torque calculation

3. Battery Design 9
3.1. Battery parameters
3.1.1. Chemistry
3.1.2. Energy density
3.1.3. Temperature
3.1.4. Depth of discharge
3.1.5. Discharge rate
3.2. Battery sizing calculations
3.2.1. Calculations
3.2.2. Physical configuration

4. Controller 14
4.1. Inverter circuit
4.2. Driver IC
4.3. MCU
4.4. Component selection & testing

5. Cruise control 18

6. Timeline of the project 19

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INTRODUCTION
An electric car is a plug-in electric automobile, that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using
energy typically stored in rechargeable batteries. Our team is involved in the design and development of
an electric vehicle.
This report presents a brief overview of the electric vehicle being made by our team at BITS Pilani. This
throws light on some of the subtle aspects of its making, functionality and what makes it so fuel efficient.

2.1 Origin of the proposal

In terms of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, electric cars and trucks are often cleaner than
even the most efficient conventional vehicles. When battery electric EVs are powered by the cleanest
electricity grids, greenhouse gas emissions from EVs are comparable to a car getting over 100 miles per
gallon.
With increasing pollution and rising fuel prices across major cities in India, there comes a need to explore
the use of alternative energy sources for transportation which are renewable and cheaper than existing
options of Petrol, Diesel and CNG in some areas. This inspired us to build an electric vehicle in India.

2.2 Need of the proposal

Battery powered electric vehicle, if used to its full potential, could help reduce India's oil dependence, which
at present is 80 percent. Over the last ten years, the emphasis on reducing fuel emissions has been a
prime agenda for many governments and concern of nations. In a bid to reduce their collective carbon
footprint, many people have started looking for a way to control their impact on the environment.

It is due to such a situation that the use of electric vehicles has increased manifold in many countries. While
production and acquiring of parts are major hurdles in the implementation and use of Electric vehicles,
there is also a lack of proper technology to run the vehicles of future in India.

2.3 Objective
The objective of the project is to build a lightweight fuel-efficient electric vehicle with single seating capability
using a carbon fibre monocoque to be presented as a prototype for the future of automobiles.

2.4 The Indian Scenario

The major hurdles concerning the use of electric vehicle are -
• Production and acquiring of expensive parts like batteries
• Inadequacy of the current technology scenario to suit such vehicles
In spite of the above-mentioned challenges, given the potential such a vehicle holds and the benefits it
adds, there are still very few groups working on the technology part of the problem.
Our Government has been providing tax benefits to Electric Vehicles and encouraged using it in various
occasions. In several instances, India has seized its moment in the sun to announce big plans for finding
next generation transportation solutions using electric vehicles government’s ambitious plans for a mass
scale shift to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030 so that all vehicles on Indian roads by then—personal and
commercial—will be powered by electricity.
The central effort of the project has been to work on building ground breaking technologies that will not only
make a cost effective and efficient electric vehicle but will further our efforts in making a pollution free and
sustainable transportation system.

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1. MOTOR SELECTION
ADVANTAGES OF BLDC:
When compared with Brushed DC motors and induction motors, Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are
more advantageous. BLDC motors require less maintenance, thus have a longer life time than
brushed DC motors. BLDC motors produce more output power (per frame size) than brushed DC
motors and induction motors. Due to the absence of brushes, they have more efficiency than
brushed DC motors, and due to their synchronized operation (the stator fields and rotor rotate in
sync), they are more easily controllable and powerful than induction motors.
The rotor is made of permanent magnets, thus have less rotor inertia, compared to other type of
motors which improves acceleration and deceleration characteristics by shortening operating
cycles. Their linear speed/torque characteristics produce predictable speed regulation. With BLDC
motors, brush inspection is eliminated, making them ideal for limited access areas and
applications where servicing is difficult. BLDC motors operate much more quietly than brushed DC
motors, and also reduce Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Low-voltage models are ideal for
battery operation, portable equipment or medical applications.

TABLE 1: COMPARING A BLDC MOTOR TO A BRUSHED DC MOTOR

Feature BLDC Motor Brushed DC Motor
Maintenance Less due to absence of brushes. Periodic maintenance is required.
Life Longer Shorter
Speed/Torque Flat – Enables operation at all speeds Moderately flat – At higher
Characteristics with rated load. speeds, brush friction increases,
thus reducing useful torque.
Efficiency High – No voltage drop across Moderate.
brushes.
Output Power/ High – Reduced size due to superior Moderate/Low – The heat
Frame Size thermal characteristics. Because BLDC produced by the armature is
has the windings on the stator, which is dissipated in the air gap, thus
connected to the case, the heat increasing the temperature in the
dissipation is better. air gap and limiting specs on the
output power/frame size.
Rotor Inertia Low, because it has permanent Higher rotor inertia which limits the
magnets on the rotor. This improves dynamic characteristics.
the dynamic response.
Speed Range Higher – No mechanical limitation Lower – Mechanical limitations by
imposed by brushes/commutator. the brushes.
Electric Noise Low. Arcs in the brushes will generate
Generation noise causing EMI in the
equipment nearby.
Cost of Building Higher – Since it has permanent Low.
magnets, building costs are higher.
Control Complex and expensive. Simple and inexpensive.
Control A controller is always required to keep No controller is required for fixed
Requirements the motor running. The same speed; a controller is required

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 controller can be used for variable only if variable speed is desired.
speed control.
TABLE 2: COMPARING A BLDC MOTOR TO AN INDUCTION MOTOR
Features BLDC Motor
Speed/Torque Flat – Enables operation at
Characteristics all speeds with rated load.
Output Power/ Frame Size High – Since it has permanent
magnets on the rotor, smaller size
can be achieved for a given
output power.
Rotor Inertia Low – Better dynamic
characteristics.
Starting Current Rated – No special starter circuit
required.
Control Requirements A controller is always required to
keep the motor running. The
same controller can be used for
variable speed control.
Slip No slip is experienced
between stator and rotor
frequencies.
AC Induction
Motors
Nonlinear – Lower torque at
lower speeds.
Moderate – Since both
stator and rotor have
windings, the output power
to size is lower than BLDC.
High – Poor dynamic
characteristics.
Approximately up to seven
times of rated – Starter
circuit rating should be
carefully selected. Normally
uses a Star-Delta starter.
No controller is required for
fixed speed; a controller is
required only if variable
speed is desired.
The rotor runs at a lower
frequency than stator by slip
frequency and slip
increases with load on the
motor.
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2. MOTOR CALCULATIONS

2.1. OBJECTIVE
To calculate the load force, power output and the torque generated by the motor to propel the
car with either acceleration or a constant velocity.
This is done by taking into account the driving force supplied by the motor as well as the
various retarding forces on it.

2.2. FORCES OF RETARDATION

The main forces to be accounted for are, the rolling friction on the wheels and the
aerodynamic drag on the car.

AERODYNAMIC DRAG:
Fdrag = 0.5ρCdAv2
ρ = 1.225 kg/m3

Cd = 0.3
A = 1.1 m2
Fdrag = 0.202125 v2
ROLLING FRICTION:
Fr = Cr. Mg
Cr = 0.02 M =
200 kg g = 9.806
m/s2 Fr = 39.224 N

2.3. DRIVING FORCE

The driving force of the motor is the force against the inertia of rest and the inertia of rotation.
The inertia of rotation force is a fraction of inertia of the motion force. We take the factor of
multiplication as 0.1
Fdrive = Ma + (0.1)Ma = (220)a
Load on motor = Driving force + Retarding Force
Fnet = (220)a + (39.224) + (0.202125)v2 amax =
1.5 m/s2, vmax = 10 m/s
We assume the acceleration-velocity plot to be linearly increasing up to 5 m/s and then
linearly decreasing.

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2.4. TABLE FOR LOAD ON MOTOR
0 m/s 2 m/s 4 m/s 6 m/s 8 m/s 10 m/s

0 m/s2 39.224 40.0325 42.458 46.5005 52.16 59.4365

0.2 m/s2 83.224 84.0325 86.458 90.5005 96.16 103.4365

0.5 m/s2 149.224 150.0325 152.458 156.5005 162.16 169.4365

1 m/s2 259.224 260.0325 262.458 266.5005 272.16 179.4365

1.5 m/s2 369.224 370.0325 372.458 376.5005 382.16 389.4365

*Values given in Newton.

The peak power requirement is at 5 m/s and 1.5 m/s2 according to our assumption.
Fload = 374.277125 N at 5 m/s and 1.5 m/s2

Ppeak = Fload x vmax

= (374.277125) x (5)
= 1871.385625 W
This is the peak power output by the motor during acceleration. Note that this output is
expected for a very short interval of time.
While moving at constant speed the maximum load will be 59.4365 N at 10 m/s.

2.5. TORQUE CALCULATION:

τ=P/ω
We calculate ω by assuming the case of rolling, ω
=v/r
‘r’ is assumed to be either a 16-inch or 17-inch radius.

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 16 in = 0.4064 m, 17 in = 0.4318 m Rated
torque is to be calculated at 10 m/s ω =
24.6063 rad/s at 16 in,

= 23.1589 rad/s at 17 in τ
= 594.364 / ω
The rated torque with the wheels of
16in is 24.1549 N-m, 17in is 25.6646 N-m

After completing and verifying the motor

calculations a BLDC motor was purchased with
the following specifications

• Power – 1.7kW
• Voltage – 48V
• Rated current – 35A
• RPM – 1000rpm
• Rated torque – 16N-m

Purchased BLDC motor

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3. BATTERY DESIGN
Aim: To select battery pack parameters based on performance requirements

Abstract: Each type of vehicle has a specific power requirement, while some require high
power while others might require long battery life. Achieving maximum fuel efficiency is the
aim of every team at Shell Eco-Marathon competition. Keeping this in mind, we take
efficiency as the primary criteria to decide the battery pack parameters. Other criteria such
as temperature, discharge rate, depth of discharge and cost are then taken into
consideration.

Rules regarding batteries are mentioned in the Rulebook of SEM

●Maximum one electric storage device is permitted.
● Only Lithium-based batteries are permitted as electric storage device.
● The vehicle must be equipped with an onboard BMS to control and protect the
battery. The BMS should provide automatic isolation of the battery in case of any
measured parameters getting out of range of the designed values.
● The lithium-based battery and any accessory circuit should be subjected to a
maximum voltage of 60V and a nominal voltage of 48V.

3.1. Battery parameters

3.1.1. Chemistry
The cathode material of lithium ion battery determines many parameters. Current
chemistries used for transport applications are -
● LiFePO4 (LFP)
● Li4Ti5O12 (LTO)
● LiNiMnCoO2 (NMC)
● LiNiCoAIO2 (NCA).
Each chemistry being different from the other on many parameters.

3.1.2. Energy density

It is defined as the ratio of energy stored to the weight or volume. This parameter
determines the efficiency of the vehicle. Higher the energy stored and lesser the weight,
higher is the obtained efficiency. Thus, energy density is directly proportional to
efficiency.

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 Thus, from the table above NCA has the highest energy density.

3.1.3. Temperature
It is directly proportional to the capacity of battery. Batteries have operating temperature
ranges where they operate safely. Some battery operation ranges for discharging and
charging are -

Cell type Discharging Charging

LTO -30 to 55 °C -20 to 55 °C
NMC -20 to 55 °C -0 to 55 °C

NCA -20 to 60 °C -0 to 45 °C

LFP -30 to 55 °C -20 to 55 °C

NCA has good operational range for discharging though the charging range being lesser
than others.

3.1.4. Depth of discharge

This parameter indicates the maximum amount of energy that can be extracted from the
battery. Most of the high traction batteries provide depth of discharge up to 100%
though, discharging up to 80% is safer. The number of cycles decrease with the increase
in depth of discharge.

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 3.1.5. Discharge rate
This determines the rate at which the battery can be discharged. Higher discharge rates
allow more power but decreases the capacity. The discharge rates of a few chemistries
are given in the following table -

Based on all the parameters we prefer Lithium ion NCA batteries for our car.
NCA has highest energy density, good discharge rates, and good operation temperature
range. Lower number of life cycles is not useful parameter for the competition.

3.2. Battery sizing calculations

● Preferred battery chemistry: NCA

● Nominal pack voltage: 48V
● Energy: 500Wh
● Desired run time: 40 minutes
● Average discharge rate: 16.5A
● Max discharge rate: 21A
● Minimum discharge rate: 5A
● Nominal capacity: 16Ah
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 ● Maximum power: 1000W
● Discharge rate: 1.3C-1.5C

3.2.1. Calculations

Power: 800W for motor + 100W for auxiliary components + 100W buffer Voltage: 48V

Number of cells in series = Vdc max/ V cell max = 48/3.7

= 13
Imax = max power/nominal voltage
= 1000/48 = 21A
Number of cells in parallel = Imax/ (V*C rate)
= 21/ (3.17*1.5)
5
Total number of cells = 13*5 = 65

Note: These calculations indicate the approximate size of the battery, the exact duty
cycle of the motor is not known as of now.

3.2.2 Physical configuration:

●Modules of cells in series

●Modules of cells in parallel

Modules of cells in parallel, connected in series are preferred.

This configuration allows easy monitoring of each cell in the battery. Shorting one cell
doesn’t create much damage to the whole pack.

Final Considerations and Conclusions

Li-ion batteries are not easily available, specifically if we want customized batteries. After
studying the batteries available from various manufacturers, it was decided to obtain a
battery pack with our capacity and voltage requirements from the options provided by
them.
A battery pack with 48 V battery and capacity less than or equal to 16.5 Ah will be chosen.
The weight of the battery should be as low as possible, and discharge current 40 A or
higher.

A battery 48V li-ion battery pack was then purchased with a capacity of 20Ah.

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Battery Pack

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4. CONTROLLER
The basic requirements and design considerations thought upon by the controller- team are
elaborated here-
The rulebook of SEM clearly states that the motor controller must be purposely built for the
competition and any modifications to purchased motor controller or evaluation kits are not
permitted. This leaves the controller-team with the only option of studying components of a generic
motor controller and figuring out essential components in the design of a controller for our purpose
- Driving a brushless DC motor.
The study of various controller designs suggests that the basic components of a controller are:
• 3 phase inverter (3 half bridges)
• Gate driver IC
• Microcontroller
A brushless DC motor needs to be driven using a specific commutation sequence, with a feedback
system. The rotor positions of the motor can be detected either by Hall Effect sensor or by sensing
back emf of the motor coils. We decided upon using the Hall Effect sensors to reduce complexity
and improve the accuracy at low speeds.

4.1. INVERTER CIRCUIT

N-channel power mosfets will be used to form the 3 half bridges of the inverter circuit.
Mosfets are chosen because their high switching frequency and low power loss.
The purpose of the inverter is to energize the 3 poles of the motor according to the
commutation sequence fed in by the driver IC.

The free-wheeling diodes with the mosfets are used as a rectifier for the regenerative
braking.
The implementation of regenerative braking also needs boost converters.
This inverter will be driven using gate drivers present in the Driver IC.

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4.2. DRIVER IC
A Driver IC consists of gate drivers which drive the gates of the mosfets of the inverter.
A brushless DC motor can be driven using 3 different types of commutation types namely
trapezoidal, sinusoidal and FOC (field oriented control). Out of these, the trapezoidal is the
easiest to implement because its logic sequence are built in many available driver ICs. It is
preferred to use a driver IC which can take input from the Hall Effect sensors and commute
the motor by itself. Typical driver ICs need to be configured using SPI interface and take in
PWM input from the Microprocessor for speed. It should also be able to detect fault
conditions of over-current and over-voltage and report to the microprocessor.
We came across driver ICs made by Texas Instruments, Allegro Microsystems, and
Monolithic power systems which match our needs. The procurement of these ICs in India is
hard. Few of these ICs are available online but the package type is unsuitable for testing
(QFN). Out-pin packages or DIP packages are not available readily. As testing is an
important part of the designing process we have decided to make a test circuit of the driver
and inverter and take it inputs from a micro-controller in order to drive the motor. After this is
done we will make the final schematic and find a vendor for PCB designing and
manufacturing.

4.3. MCU
The role of the MCU is to take input from the different switches and sensors, and give proper
inputs to the driver. As it has been decided to drive the rear wheels using two motors, there
will be two tachometers, one for each motor, in order to maintain a closed loop. A major part
of the controller is the programming of the MCU, done in embedded C and consisting of the
different algorithms associated with the different systems. Another important feature of the
MCU is taking input from the rotary sensor on the steering wheel and distributing power
accordingly to both the rear wheels essentially acting as an electronic differential for the
vehicle.
There are two options as to how the microprocessor can be integrated. We can either put a
microprocessor and build the subsidiary circuitry for components like RAM, ROM, and UART
etc or buy a micro-controller which has everything integrated together and interfacing with the
computer becomes easy and use of GPIOs also becomes easy.
The final circuit cannot be made until proper testing has been done and the test circuit is able
to run the motor. Making this test circuit will require the inverter circuit and the driver IC circuit
at least, so that the primary goal of driving the motor can be achieved. On the other hand, the
circuitry involving the sensors and the switches can be worked upon simultaneously.

4.4. COMPONENT SELECTION AND TESTING

INVERTER- The power Mosfets should have a voltage rating of around 100V and current
rating of minimum 20A with at least 200kHz switching frequency. We can incorporate
individual mosfets or buy mosfet modules available which have 3 half bridges integrated on
a single module.
DRIVER IC– As the motor rating is 48V, a driver IC should have voltage rating of at least
50V. The types of driver ICs we need are N-channel mosfet gate driver which has an
on-board trapezoidal commutation sequence. Models- Texas instruments DRV8323R,
Allegro A3931, A3930, and Monolithic MP6533. All of these drivers have the features
required and necessary.

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MCU- We need processors that have high processing speed, high ADC sampling rates,
multiple processors, and a large flash memory (to enable large codes to be mounted).
Models: Texas instruments delfino c2000 tms320f2837xd, tms320f2837xd, tms320f28335
etc..

After researching about different components the driver IC selected was DRV8323R by
Texas Instruments. An IC for testing purpose was purchased online which came in QFN
package. The IC was then soldered on to a 48 pin breakout board and made ready for
testing. After considering resources and some constraints the testing of the IC was
outsourced to an external consultant which would be responsible for the testing the IC on a
less power motor. As of now the motor testing with the driver ICs was successfully conducted
and designing of the final PCB board is under progress. The selection of the microcontroller
is also being discussed considering future plans of the teams and compatibility with external
components added is also being taken under consideration.

Above is the test circuit that was implemented with the help of the external vendor.

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TEST CIRCUIT

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6. CRUISE CONTROL
Cruise control is an energy saving feature available in many cars today. When the
cruise control is turned on, the controller drives the vehicle at the current speed, the input is taken
from the tachometer for the current speed of the vehicle. The controller then takes the speed
input of the vehicle again with the help of tachometer and compares it with the previously set
speed and sends in the required PWM signals to the driver to change the speed of the vehicle
back to its set speed, if needed. This makes it comfortable for the driver and also saves energy if
the speed at which this is turned on is at the rated speed so that it maximizes the torque output.
Cruise control can be turned off by turning it off manually or by hitting the brake pedal.
Apart from including cruise control in our vehicle, we plan to include a button to change the
speed by +/- 1 km/h. This would ease the driver’s work while performing operations such
as Overtaking, etc. We also plan to include a button to take the vehicle to the rated speed
of the motor using the most efficient path. This will be done by
pre-programming the controller to use the best torque from the Torque v/s Speed graph ensuring
that the motor always delivers the maximum torque possible at that speed.
This would ensure the best use of the energy available and would also minimise human error.

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