Inductive Power Transfer System Integration for Battery-Electric Vehicles

As battery-electric vehicle technology advances as a viable alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles, consumer acceptance becomes a critical factor for the future of these vehicles, with driving range and vehicle cost being the preeminent parameters of concern. Unique to battery-electric vehicles is the direct inverse relationship between these parameters. Battery pack costs often account for over one half of the vehicle cost, with the vehicle range determined by the capacity (and thus cost) of the battery pack as well. An increase in vehicle range would therefore result in a significant increase in battery pack cost, and vice versa. In addition, the relationship between overall vehicle mass and total range further inversely couples vehicle cost and range. It is apparent then that a fundamental trade-off will always exist between the two parameters, unless an additional factor is added to decouple the direct relationship between them. This paper presents results of an analytical investigation of the aforementioned relationships unique to battery-electric vehicles and proposes inductively coupled power transfer (ICPT) as a potential solution and decoupling method for the vehicle range –1 vehicle cost relationship. The proposed inductively coupled power transfer (ICPT) system was found to be very effective by allowing the battery pack size to be reduced by up to 48%.