Optimizing Electric Motor Controls with Dynamic Motor Drive

Authors

Z. Chen, P. Carvell, A. Tripathi, M. Younkins, Z. Islam, S. Leng, A. Singh, A. Arvantis, A. Phillips, Tula Technology

Summary

Improving the efficiency of battery-electric vehicle powertrains is a key to transportation electrification. Although the peak efficiencies of electric motors exceed 90 %, practical drive cycles and powertrain architectures frequently operate outside of the peak efficiency region. Furthermore, the most efficient motors use extensive amounts of rare earth magnets, which are expensive and have limited sources of supply. Tula’s Dynamic Motor Drive (DMD®) control strategy mitigates the light-load efficiency losses of electric motors while simultaneously reducing or eliminating the reliance on rare-earth materials. By using the DMD pulse density strategy for electric motor control, inverter losses and core losses are reduced. This paper details the optimization of motor design for this new control paradigm, the control methodology used to achieve those gains, and the experimental results of that system in use.

Members Login