• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • IEEE.org
  • IEEE Xplore
  • IEEE Standards
  • IEEE Spectrum
  • More Sites

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine

Unboxing the technology behind smart consumer electronics systems.

  • Home
  • Features
  • Columns/ Departments
  • Editor’s Blog
  • Industry News
    • Italian Startup Takes Proprietary AC/DC Architecture to Trial Production- 01 February 2022
    • Vicor Proposes Architecture to Eliminate 12V Battery from Electric Vehicles- 13 December 2021
    • Navitas Introduces 3G GaN Power ICs with Real-Time Autonomous Sensing and Protection- 19 November 2021
    • CAES Unveils Unprecedented GaN Based Single-Stage, Isolated DC-DC Converters- 11 November 2021
    • Digital Electricity Safely Transmits Power across Long Distances- 5 October 2021
    • More Suppliers Unveil High-Voltage Integrated GaN FET Solutions- 21 September 2021
  • Multimedia
  • About Us
    • Contact
  • PELS Resources
    • PELS Home Page
    • Membership
    • Standards
    • Publications
    • Career Center

Vicor Proposes Architecture to Eliminate 12V Battery from Electric Vehicles- 13 December 2021

December 13, 2021 by Ashok Bindra

13 December 2021
While battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are powered by large lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery packs,   consumers will be surprised to know that the conventional 12 V lead-acid battery also continues to be part of a BEV’s battery system. Although, lately some EV makers like Tesla have replaced lead-acid with Li-ion. Nevertheless, like internal combustion engines (ICE), it continues to power many of the same functions required in cars, such as lights, wipers, radio/sound, dashboard instruments, doors, navigation system, on-board computer and so on. According to Vicor, with the absence of a harmonized, scalable approach for delivering electric power, the car manufacturers are grappling with a major design hurdle. How to handle vehicle’s subsystems that 12 V battery has long supported.

“This is compounded by a tremendous increase in power requirements,” says Patrick Kowalyk, Vicor’s principal field applications engineer for automotive. According to Kowalyk, BEVs need power levels up to 20 times greater than cars with ICE engines. “That 20x surge means a corresponding increase in power electronics that adds cost, weight, size and design complexity,” added Kowalyk.

As a result, today’s sub-optimal solution is to pack BEVs with as many as three separate batteries. In addition to a 400 V or 800 V battery pack, (traction battery), there is a distribution system that operates from secondary 12 V and 48 V batteries.

Vicor’s answer to this design dilemma lies in enabling the traction battery to serve in the same capacity as the 12 V battery by replacing it with a solid-state power delivery network that improves vehicle performance while saving space and weight.

FIG 1 Vicor proposes power architecture that eliminates conventional 12 V battery and replaces it with a compact solid-state modular converter that responds much faster with high efficiency.

Consequently, the power supply manufacturer is working with automotive suppliers and OEMs to eliminate these supplemental power sources by creating a ‘virtual battery’ that responds three times faster than standard 12 V battery,” asserted Kowalyk. “The solution is a high-performance, modular power converter that converts power from the main 400 V or 800 V high-voltage battery down to 12 V or 48 V levels with such a fast response time that a separate battery is no longer needed (Figure 1).”  In essence, noted Kowalyk, “by switching to modular power you can eliminate the 12 V battery and achieve enhanced transient response, decreased weight and additional package space, all contributing to extended range and better overall vehicle performance.”

Vicor study shows that this replacement strategy not only allows engineers to replicate the essential properties of a physical 12 V battery, it enables them to remove more than 25 pounds of vehicle weight and creates enough saved space to fit the equivalent of a small, carry-on suitcase. In 2022, the company expects to see this modular approach to power delivery being adopted by OEMs that are looking to electrify and differentiate their fleets with extended range and better overall performance.

Filed Under: Industry News Tagged With: Industry News, Open Access

Primary Sidebar

Current Issue

Get the entire issue now.
03.22 Pels Cover

Current Issue Webinar

The magazine web seminar for the September 2021 cover article “The Virtuous Circle of 5G, IoT and Energy Harvesting” by Brian Zahnstecher and Mike Hayes is now available at https://resourcecenter.ieee-pels.org/education/webinars/PELSWEB111021V.html.

Associated Article
The Virtuous Circle of 5G, IoT and Energy Harvesting

About the Magazine

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine publishes peer-reviewed articles related to power electronics and its applications which encompass the effective use of electronic components, application of control theory and circuit design techniques, and the development of analytical tools used in efficient and effective energy conversion, control, utilization, and conditioning of electric power. The IEEE Power Electronics  Magazine is limited to the field of interest of the IEEE Power Electronics Society. Topics also include publication of new trend technologies that are being pursued by industry, design practices and case studies, significant amount of state of the art surveys tutorials, and non-technical contributions: news about society activities, interviews, and historical articles.

Reader Feedback

August 2021
Professor Lingling Fan, Professor at the University of South Florida and Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Electrification Magazine wrote to “White Hot” column author Robert V. White, “Dear Bob, I’d like to let you know that I enjoy reading your columns in PELS magazine. From  your recent writings, I got to know a lot, including what is the use of patents and the two branches of power electronics researchers.”

We like to hear you. Please send us your views/comments on our feature articles, columns, society news and other related content to bindra1@verizon.net and we will post it in the “Reader Feedback” section of the website with some edits. Feel free to suggest ways to further enhance the magazine content.

POPULAR ARTICLE

APEC Organizers, Vendors
Take Virtual Route to Reveal Latest Trends in Power Technologies and Products

A cancelled conference taps alternate methods to disseminate cutting-edge information

With the growing concerns of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the IEEE Power Electronics Society/Industrial Applications Society (PELS/IAS) and Power Supply Manufacturers Association-sponsored 2020 Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC 2020) in New Orleans, Louisiana, was cancelled for the safety of the attendees. While it was a difficult decision, the health, safety, and welfare of the community was paramount for the organizers and sponsors of the 15–19 March 2020 conference. Although this was the first such cancellation in APEC’s 35-year history, the organizers were quick to offer a virtual conference to those registered. In addition, peer-reviewed papers accepted by the conference committee were submitted to IEEE Xplore and are available to all.

Despite the challenges and adversities of COVID-19, the organizers worked diligently to virtually bring the conference and its presentations to the registered community via the APEC 2020 app and the eventScribe web portal. As a result, I was given a password (access key) to access the site and view a variety of the sessions. Before I go through the conference papers and sessions, I would like to take the opportunity to mention the vendors who promptly called IEEE Power Electronics Magazine and presented the latest trends in technologies and products online. The unbelievable situation created by the COVID-19 outbreak did not deter the vendors and emerging companies from taking their latest advances and developments to editors and reporters via phone and virtual meetings and booths. As a result, I was lucky to talk to a variety of power semiconductor companies, passive component suppliers, and power electronics experts, including marketing analysts, and gather the latest advances in power electronics technology.

Read More…

Search

Past Issues

Footer

MISSION STATEMENT:

To educate, inform, and entertain our community of
IEEE Power Electronics Society members
on technology, events, industry news, and
general topics relating to consumer electronics
and to further serve and support our Members in professional career development through tutorials and raising awareness of engineering tools and technologies.

The magazine is archived in IEEE Xplore, and articles from all issues are available for download.

LINKS

Contact IEEE | Privacy & Security |
Nondiscrimination  Policy | Terms & Conditions
Pels Logo