Economic Feasibility of Soft Magnetic Materials in an Electric Vehicle Onboard Charger

Abstract:
Nanocrystalline cores have been tested in the manufacture of on-board chargers (OBC) used in electric commercial vehicles to understand possible benefits related to size, weight, performance and efficiency and its impact in the total cost of ownership of such components. The cores have been tested and compared with the reference material used, ferrite, in the two power electronic stages of a standard OBC: power-factor-correction (PFC) and LLC (two inductors and one capacitor). Test results have shown that nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials (NSMM) enable relevant optimization in size and weight without sacrificing high efficiency and electromagnetic compatibility.