Research of inductive power transfer system for electric vehicle

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.Electric vehicles are a promising option for future transportation. The technology related to these have undergone rapid development over the last two decades and there are now many commercial electric vehicles available on the market. However, consumers still suffer from the "range anxiety" due to the limited driving range and long recharging time (refuelling time) compared to traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Wireless charging is an alternative recharging option; currently the usual recharging method uses plug-in charging. With wireless charging, the connection between grid and vehicle can be established in less than a second without any manual operation. Therefore, recharging EVs can take place during a short stop or in motion. This means that there are more recharging windows available during vehicle use which would effectively extend the range of the vehicle and reduce consumers "range anxiety". This work is divided into three parts. The first part addresses the background and reviews the literature on EV recharging technologies. This is formed from first two chapters: Chapter 1 provides the introduction and outline of this thesis; Chapter 2 puts forward a literature review of the state of the art of recharging technology. The design of the wireless charging coupler is reviewed in this chapter. The second part is the study of the inductive charging system. Chapter 3 introduces the wireless charging pad analysis, which includes a circular pad and a rectangular pad analysis. The parameters of the pads are analysed. An analytical and numerical combined method for resistance analysis is introduced to wireless charging coupler resistance analysis which is the first contribution of this research. And Chapter 4 proposes a pad geometry with assistive coils which is a new arrangement that improves the coil coupling which is the secondary contribution of this study. Chapter 5 analyses the inductive power transfer system at circuit level, and experiment validation is carried out. Finally, conclusions and future work are given in Chapter 6