The composite converter allows integrating the high-efficiency converter modules to achieve superior efficiency performance, becoming a prominent solution for electric transport power conversion. In this work, the versatile buck-boost dc-dc converter is proposed to be integrated into an electric vehicle composite architecture that requires a wide voltage range in the dc link to improve the electric motor efficiency. The inductor core of this versatile buck-boost converter has been redesigned for high voltage applications. The versatile buck-boost converter module of the composite architecture is in charge of the control stage. It provides a dc bus voltage regulation at a wide voltage operation range, which requires step-up (boost) and step-down (buck) operating modes. The PLECS thermal simulation of the composite architecture shows a superior power conversion efficiency of the proposed topology over the well-known classical noninverting buck-boost converter under the same operating conditions. The obtained results have been validated via experimental efficiency measures and experimental transient responses of the versatile buck-boost converter. Finally, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) real-time simulation system of a 4.4 kW powertrain is presented using a PLECS RT Box 1 device. The HIL simulation results verified the accuracy of the theoretical analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed architecture.
Keywords: dc–dc power converters; digital control; electric vehicles.