University of Sharjah

Electrical and Electronics

Engineering
ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS
PROJECT( Fall semester 2010-
2011)

NAME
 Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles have been around ever since the 18th

century , however their decline was due to several factors in
favour of gasoline cars.

Electric vehicles are becoming more popular now. They are

environmental friendly ; they have no gas tank since it burns
no fuel but they have battery packs which are used to store
energy to power the vehicles and there is also a
regulator/controller attached to the batteries to control the
amount of energy produced and used by the car, ensuring that
the power is constant without burning out the batteries. There
is also no catalytic convertor.

Electric vehicles have normal looking exterior, however they

lack exhaust system and most importantly they have different
type of motors.

The electric motors that are available: the Brushless motors

(good top speed, but low acceleration) and the induction
motor (ok top speed, best acceleration, but for higher
price) .Any of these motors can be used to create an electric
vehicle .
Converting the gasoline-fuelled car to an
electric vehicle
To convert a gasoline-fueled car to electric car there are some
modifications to be done to the interior of the car.

• The gasoline engine is removed, no more catalytic

converters (that convert hydrocarbons produced by the
gasoline fuel to harmless gases), no tailpipe or exhaust
system.
• A new electric motor was attached to the transmission
system with an adapter plate.
• An electric controller was added to control the motor.
• A battery tray was installed in the floor of the car with
lead-acid batteries in the battery tray (enough to produce
300 volts DC).
• Other electric motors were installed to power: the water
pump, power steering pump, air conditioner.
• For the power brake booster an electric vacuum pump will
be added. A power brake booster improves the
performance of the breaks on your vehicle, thereby
making it much safer and easier to stop.
• A switch is used instead as an automatic transmission
shifter, to control forward and reverse. The switch sends
signals to the controller.
• A small electric water heater was added to provide heat.
• A charging system is added to recharge the batteries.For
instance a normal 120-volt or 240-volt wall outlet.
• The gauge in an electric car is either a simple volt meter
or a computerized gauge that tracks the flow of amps to
and from the battery pack.
Inside an Electric Car

The inside of an electric car consists mainly of :

1-The electric motor

2-The motor's controller

3-The batteries

The batteries supply the DC controller with the power

which in turn delivers it to the motor. The accelerator
pedal is attached to a pair of potentiometers (variable
resistors), which signals the controller how much power it
is to deliver. The controller can deliver from zero power to
full power .

There are usually two potentiometers . The controller gets

signals from both potentiometers and operates only if both
signals are equal.
While in AC controlled motors , using six sets of power
transistors, the controller takes in DC voltage and produces AC
voltage, 3-phase. The controller additionally provides a charging
system for the batteries, and a DC-to-DC converter to recharge
the battery.
Types of motors
There are mainly two types of motors:- Brushless motors and
induction motors.

Brushless motors
With brushless motors, the rotor mainly requires two or more
permanent magnets that generate a DC magnetic field which
enters the core of the stator (the stationary part of the motor a
core made up of thin, stacked laminations) and in turn
interacts with currents’ magnetic field which flows within the
windings to produce a torque interaction between the rotor and
stator. As the rotor rotates, to keep the torque direction
constant, the magnitude and polarity of the stator is to be
continuously varied. Therefore an inverter which provides the
current control is used.

Induction motors.

An induction machine is made up of a 3-phase induction motor.

Both the brushless and the 3-phase induction motor are similar
since both have sets of distributed winding inserted in a stator ,
however the main difference is their rotors.

Instead of the permanent magnets in the DC brushless rotor,

the induction rotor has stacked steel laminations with
conductors such as iron bars within the core . Currents flowing
in the stator windings produce a rotating magnetic field that
enters the rotor.

Therefore , the frequency of the rotor’s magnetic field is equal

to the difference between the applied electrical frequency from
the supply and the rotational frequency of the rotor itself.
Consequently, an induced voltage exists across the structure
of stacked steel laminations which is proportional to the speed
difference between the rotor and electrical frequency. This
happens as due to this induced voltage, currents are produced
within the rotor conductors (approximately proportional the
voltage), hence the speed difference. The result of these
currents interacting with the original magnetic field is the
required rotor torque.

If the 3-phase induction motor is connected to a utility type 3-

phase power, torque is produced at the outset; under any load
the motor would start. No inverter is needed. This factor where
the induction motor is in direct compatibility with the
conventional utility power makes the induction motors
successful.

Whereas, a brushless DC motor needs an inverter whose

phase must be in step with the angular position of the rotor and
it produces no torque when directly connected to fixed
frequency utility power.

However , the 3-phase motor must operate from an AC only

since the shaft speed is in linear proportionality with the line
frequency so in turn it maintains a constant speed . In addition ,
when operated from the utility power, their starting torque is
limited , which in turn limits the peak torque. ( the DC type has
higher peak torque capabilities).
We can modify the machine to power an induction motor from
a DC source by adding an inverter and so varying the speed
also becomes possible by adjusting the inverter frequency. To
improve the torque performance some feedback loops are
added such that the inverter produces the exact frequency that
the motor desires .

What to choose; a Brushless or Induction motor?

Nowadays , all the hybrids are powered by DC brushless
drives. The only popular vehicles that use induction drives
have been the General Motors EV-1; the AC Propulsion vehicles,
including the tzero; and the Tesla Roadster.

Tesla Roaster
Comparison between the DC brushless and induction
motors
DC brushless Induction drives

 DC brushless motors  Induction drives produce

generate much less rotor
heat and its cooling is
easier therefore the peak
point efficiency is higher.
 The DC brushless drive
more heat.
 The best power factor for
the induction is about 85
%.

can operate at unity

power factor. ( Energy
 Induction machines have
efficiency will be higher )
no permanent magnets
 The strength of the and B fields can be
magnetic field produced adjusted since B is
by the permanent proportionate to V/f
magnets is adjustable. (voltage to frequency).
When maximum torque is
Therefore, at light loads the
required, (even at low
inverter can reduce voltage
speeds) the magnetic
such that magnetic losses are
field strength (B) should
reduced and efficiency is
be maximum – so that
maximized.
inverter and motor
currents are maintained
 at their lowest possible
values. This minimizes
the I² R (power losses)
and therefore optimizes
efficiency.
 Similarily, when torque
levels are low, the B field
(field density) should be
reduced such that eddy
and hysteresis losses due
to B are also reduced.
However,this is an ideal
case, and there is no
easy way of changing B
with permanent magnets.
 With DC brushless, as
machine size grows, the
magnetic losses increase
proportionately and load
efficiency decreases.
 Permanent magnets are
expensive.
Thus, the induction machine
when operated with a smart
inverter , the magnetic and
conduction losses can be
adjusted such that efficiency is
optimized.
 With induction, as
machine size grows,
losses do not really
increase. Thus, induction
drives are better when
high-performance is
desired. Although the
peak efficiency will be a
little less than with DC
brushless, but average
efficiency may actually
be better.
 Induction motors are less
expensive since they
require no permanent
magnets and the inverter
ratings and costs are
lower specially due to the
field B weakening
capabilities of induction
machines.
  However ,the control laws
 Permanent magnets are
for an induction motor
difficult to handle since
are more complex . It is
they attract any
more difficult to achieve
ferromagnetic material
stability over the torque-
that comes close to them.
speed range and over
temperature.

Conclusion

Although electric vehicles are much better in gasoline saving

and are much more enviornmental friendly, however the
battery packs are very expensive and mass market car
manufacturing costs are very high. Therefore many car
companies are reluctant to convert their cars to electric
vehicles.
Inside the electric car

The Phoenix SUT is a full-featured, all-electric pick-up truck.

References

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/electric-car2.htm

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/induction-versus-dc-
brushless-motors

http://www.cartechautoparts.com/electric-vacuum-
pump/

http://gulfnews.com/business/automotives/electric-
vehicles-to-hit-the-uae-soon-1.657562