Cost-Effective System Installed in Light Electric Vehicles With Swapping Operation

초록

Battery swapping stations as well as charging stations can be used for light electric vehicles (LEVs) due to the short charging time. However, during swapping operation, difference in state of charge between the existing and fully charged battery packs can lead to high unexpected circulating current. Hence, the system including DC/DC converters has been considered. By employing the converters, circulating current can be prevented. However, converters that include switches and magnetic components can render the system expensive and bulky. This article proposes a simple battery swapping system for LEVs. The battery packs are connected to charger or load without magnetic components, improving cost and size. Moreover, charging/discharging current through battery packs can be automatically determined according to the battery pack voltage. Therefore, the proposed system can prevent excessive charging/discharging of only one battery pack and achieve load sharing without additional control. Further, circulating current can be avoided by reverse-biased diodes. © 2023 The Korean Institute of Power Electronics.

키워드