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Comparison of BLDC and AC Motors in Electric Vehicles
Comparison of BLDC and AC Motors in Electric Vehicles
On
Comparison of BLDC and AC motors in Electric Vehicles
submitted towards the partial fulfilment of the
requirement for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Technology
in
Electrical Engineering
Submitted by
RUSHIV BANSAL
2K20/EE/227
RAMAN KUMAR JHA
2K20/EE/213
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CONTENTS
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DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering)
Bawana Road, Delhi-110042
DECLARATION
We hereby certify that the work, which is presented in the project entitled
“Comparison of BLDC and AC motors in Electric Vehicles” in fulfillment of the requirement
for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering and
submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi
is an authentic record of my own, carried out under the supervision of Sh. Krishna Dutt.
The work presented in this report has not been submitted and not under consideration for
the award for any other degree of this or any other institute.
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DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering)
Bawana Road, Delhi-110042
CERTIFICATE
To the best of my knowledge, the report comprises original work and has not been
submitted in part or full for any Course/Degree to this university or elsewhere as per the
candidate’s declaration.
and signature
Date: 26.04.2022
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DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering)
Bawana Road, Delhi-110042
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
On the very outset of this report, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the people
who helped us in completing this project on time. Without their active guidance, help,
cooperation and encouragement, we would not have made headway in the project.
We would like to thank Sh. Krishna Dutt for his conscientious guidance and encouragement to
accomplish this project.
We are extremely thankful and pay our gratitude to him for his valuable comments and
suggestions on this project which helped us in improving it.
We would also like to thank the Department of Electrical Engineering, Delhi Technological
University for giving us the opportunity to work on this project.
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DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering)
Bawana Road, Delhi-110042
ABSTRACT
Electric vehicles with higher energy efficiency, low maintenance cost and
pollution free operation, are offering great alternative to popular
conventional IC engine vehicles. Also, with the advancement in technology,
electric vehicle manufacturers are able to overcome the traditional
drawbacks of electric vehicles, making it more and more suitable for
modern day transportation. A motor in an electric vehicle provides the
necessary force for the propulsion of a vehicle, which makes it the heart of
electric vehicles.
In this project we will see the most widely used motors in the electric
vehicle industry. We will compare their advantages, disadvantages and
characters and will list factors on which the leading electric vehicle
manufacturers are shifting their focus from one motor to other motors.
Different types of electric motors are compared on the basis of certain
parameters which should be considered for selecting a particular motor
type for electric vehicle application. Comparison is tabulated for some
parameters. Also, characteristic graphs of different motors are included at
some points.
We have also tried to inculcate some simulations to help us infer the results
and help us to draw comparison and parallelism between different motors.
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Electric vehicles are not something new to this world, but with the
technological advancement and increased concern on controlling pollution
has given it a tag of future mobility. The core element of the EV, apart
from Electric Vehicle Batteries, which replaces the Internal Combustion
engines is an Electric motor. The rapid development in the field of Power
electronics and control techniques has created a space for various types of
electric motors to be used in Electric Vehicles. The electric motors used for
automotive applications should have characteristics like high starting
torque, high power density, good efficiency, etc.
1. DC Series Motor
2. Brushless DC Motor
3. Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM)
4. Three Phase AC Induction Motors
5. Switched Reluctance Motors (SRM)
The Brushed DC series motor was the most widely used motor in the 1900s.
However, with the advancement in technology in power electronics, the
manufactures moved from brushed to brushless motors, primarily during the
last 10-15 years. This was so since the brushed motors had advantages such
as:
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6. Elimination of ionizing sparks from the commutator (ESD)
7. Near-elimination of electromagnetic interference (EMI)
Over their brushed counterparts. With more and more advancements, use
of AC motors began to grow in the industry. Companies using AC motors
like Tesla, have become profoundly successful in this field.
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on the intended use of electric vehicle. Over the years there has been
significant research in the field of electric motors and different types of AC
and DC motors have been developed. This gives electric vehicle
manufacturers a wide range of different electric motors to choose from as
per their requirement. Selection of a particular type of motor for an electric
vehicle must be done judiciously as motor characteristics affect the overall
performance of a vehicle.
1. Simple design
4. Efficiency
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CHAPTER 2
TYPES OF MOTORS USED
In this type, the rotor of the motor is present outside and the stator is
present inside. It is also called as Hub motors because the wheel is
directly connected to the exterior rotor. This type of motors does not
require external gear system. In a few cases, the motor itself has inbuilt
planetary gears. This motor makes the overall vehicle less bulky as it
does not require any gear system. It also eliminates the space required
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for mounting the motor. There is a restriction on the motor dimensions
which limits the power output in the in-runner configuration. This motor
is widely preferred by electric cycle manufacturers like Hullikal, Tronx,
Spero, light speed bicycles, etc. It is also used by two-wheeler
manufacturers like 22 Motors, NDS Eco Motors, etc.
(a) (b)
Fig (a) BLDC Hub Motor (b) Bosch BLDC Hub motor used by 22 motors
In this type, the rotor of the motor is present inside and the stator is
outside like conventional motors. These motors require an external
transmission system to transfer the power to the wheels, because of
this the out-runner configuration is little bulky when compared to the in-
runner configuration. Many three- wheeler manufacturers like Goenka
Electric Motors, Speego Vehicles, Kinetic Green, Volta Automotive use
BLDC motors. Low and medium performance scooter manufacturers
also use BLDC motors for propulsion.
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(a) (b)
Fig (a) In runner BLDC motor (b) In runner BLDC used in Ather Electric Scooter
Three phase induction motors are widely used in electric vehicles because
of high efficiency, good speed regulation and absence of commutators.
Three phase AC supply is connected to stator winding, due to which
revolving magnetic field is established. This revolving magnetic field interacts
with stationary rotor conductors, and induced current flows through rotor
conductors. Induced current establishes its own magnetic field. Interaction
between revolving magnetic field and field due to induced currents gives rise
to unidirectional torque. As speed of rotor is different (less) than speed of
revolving field (synchronous speed), these motors are also called as
asynchronous motor.
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(a)
(b) (c)
Fig (a) Induction motor (b) Torque speed characteristic of Induction motor (c) Three
phase induction motor characteristic under flux-oriented control
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In permanent magnet motors, the magnets contribute to the flux density B.
Therefore, adjusting the value of B in induction motors is easy when
compared to permanent magnet motors. It is because in Induction motors
the value of B can be adjusted by varying the voltage and frequency (V/f)
based on torque requirements. This helps in reducing the losses which in
turn improves the efficiency.
Tesla Model S is the best example to prove the high-performance capability
of induction motors compared to its counterparts. By opting for induction
motors, Tesla might have wanted to eliminate the dependency on permanent
magnets. Even Mahindra Reva e2o uses a three-phase induction motor
for its propulsion. Major automotive manufacturers like TATA motors have
planned to use Induction motors in their cars and buses. The two-wheeler
manufacturer TVS motors will be launching an electric scooter which uses
induction motor for its propulsion. Induction motors are the preferred choice
for performance oriented electric vehicles due to its cheap cost. The other
advantage is that it can withstand rugged environmental conditions. Due to
these advantages, the Indian railways has started replacing its DC motors
with AC induction motors.
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This motor is also similar to BLDC motor which has permanent
magnets on the rotor. Similar to BLDC motors these motors also have
traction characteristics like high power density and high efficiency. The
difference is that PMSM has sinusoidal back EMF whereas BLDC has
trapezoidal back EMF. Permanent Magnet Synchronous motors are
available for higher power ratings. PMSM is the best choice for high
performance applications like cars, buses. Despite the high cost, PMSM
is providing stiff competition to induction motors due to increased
efficiency than the latter. PMSM is also costlier than BLDC motors. Most
of the automotive manufacturers use PMSM motors for their hybrid
and electric vehicles. For example, Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Bolt EV,
Ford Focus Electric, zero motorcycles S/SR, Nissan Leaf, Hinda Accord,
BMW i3, etc use PMSM motor for propulsion.
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2.4 SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR
They consist of a stator with excitation windings and a magnetic rotor with
saliency. Rotor conductors are not required because torque is produced
by the tendency of the rotor to align with stator produced flux wave in such
a fashion so as to maximize the stator flux linkages that result from a given
applied stator current. Switched reluctance motor produces torque by
variable reluctance method. When stator coils are energized, variable
reluctance is set up in the air gap between the stator and the rotor. Rotor
tends to move to a position of least reluctance thus causing torque.
Switched Reluctance motor has characteristics like high starting torque,
wide speed range and good inherent fault-tolerance capability, which
makes it suitable for electric vehicle application. Some parameters that
must be taken into account while comparing above motors for choosing a
best suited motor for required electric vehicle application are power-to-
weight ratio, torque-speed characteristics, efficiency, cost of controller,
cost of motor.
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CHAPTER 3
COMPARISON PARAMETERS
Power-to-Weight Ratio is very important criteria for any vehicle (be electric
or gasoline) because lesser the weight more efficiently will the car run and
will be able to attain higher speeds more easily.
Power-to-weight ratio for electric motors is usually calculated using the peak
power of motor. Power-to-weight ratio for an electric motor is obtained by
dividing the peak power output of motor in KW by weight of motor in Kg. Unit
of power-to-weight ratio of motor is KW/Kg. A motor with higher power-to-
weight ratio is more suitable for EV application. Same type of motor with
same ratings is designed and manufactured differently by different electric
motor manufacturers and hence there can be a slight difference in their
weights. Here, we will consider mean weight of motor to calculate their
power-to-weight ratios. Now, if we consider different types of electric motors
with same power, voltage and speed ratings
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3.2 TORQUE-SPEED CHARACTERISTICS
DC series wound motor has high starting torque. Also, speed decreases with
increase in torque. DC shunt motors have medium staring torque, but speed
decreases slightly with increase in torque. Therefore, DC shunt wound
motors are used in constant speed application. Torque-speed characteristics
of brushless DC motor is more drooping than that of DC shunt motor
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(a) (b)
Fig – Torque speed characteristics of (a) DC series motor (b) DC shunt motor
(a) (b)
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emf is equal to bus voltage is called as base speed. For switched reluctance
motor, torque below base speed is controlled by Pulse Width Modulation
(PWM) of current while above base speed torque control is possible only
through control of phase turn-on and phase turn-off angles
DC BRUSHED 85 – 90 80-85
MOTOR
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Mileage for an electric vehicle will be defined as distance travelled (in km)
per kW of energy used like if a car runs 10 km for every 500 W output power
it receives at the crank shaft then the mileage can be calculated as 10 km
divided by the input power to the motor in kW to generate 500 W output
power at the shaft. So, mileage is given as
We will take the same EV for the comparison for different motors. So, output
mileage, M’, is same for all the motors. Therefore, Mileage can be written as:
𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑒 = 𝜂 × 𝑀′ or 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑒 ∝ 𝜂
Since the output mileage is considered same for all the motors (since all
motors are being tested on same vehicle and output mileage depends on
the vehicle not the motor), the mileage thus comes out to be directly
proportional to the efficiency of the motor.
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3.4 Cost of Controllers
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3.6 Other Parameters
3.7 CONCLUSION
In this study, we compare five different electric motors for electric vehicle application
on different criterions like power-to-weight ratio, torque-speed characteristics,
efficiency, cost of controller and cost of motor. Comparative evaluation indicates the
following.
1. DC brushed motor are easy to control, provide high torque at lower speeds but
have high maintenance cost, large size, low efficiency. 2. BLDC motor has higher
power-to-weight ratio, but its maintenance cost, cost of controller is high.
3. Three phase induction motor provides efficiency more than 90% at peak load as
well as at 10% load. Three phase induction motor and BLDC motor are the two most
widely used motors by electric vehicle manufacturers.
4. Synchronous motor has higher efficiency at lower speeds and improves battery
utilization and driving range. Synchronous motor is preferred where constant torque is
required. 5. Switched Reluctance motor provides a great alternative to induction motor
and BLDC motor with lower cost of motor and controller, high efficiency at peak load
as well as at 10% load, reliability and fault tolerance capability.
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CHAPTER 4
MATLAB/SIMULINK DEMONSTRATION
In this section we have used Simulink to generate torque speed
characteristics of DC, AC Induction and Synchronous motors to
experimentally verify the results in the section 3.2 and make comparison
between these motors on the basis of Torque-speed characteristics.
4.1 DC Motor
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4.2 AC Induction Motor
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REFFERENCES
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