Inverter and Battery Drive Cycle Efficiency Comparisons of CHB and MMSP Traction Inverters for Electric Vehicles

This paper investigates the performance of several inverter types for electric vehicles. A standard two-level and two seven-level multilevel inverters, a cascaded H-bridge (CHB) and a modular multilevel series parallel (MMSP) inverter, are considered. Based on the AC impedance spectra measured on asingle battery cell, the battery pack impedances of the multilevel and two-level inverter systems are modeled. The inverter losses are modeled using the semiconductors’ datasheets. Based on the loss models, the inverter and battery efficiency during different driving cycles are assessed. In comparison tothe two-level inverter system, the multilevel inverter drivetrains show an increased drivetrain efficiency, despite increased battery losses. The MMSP topology showed the best result. In comparison to the CHB topology, the battery losses were reduced by the MMSP inverter system