Analysis and Modelling of the Losses for the

Electrical Drive System of an Electric Vehicle

Quoc Khanh Nguyen, Jörg Roth-Stielow

Institute of Power Electronics and Electrical Drives
University of Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany
nguyen@ilea.uni-stuttgart.de

Abstract—In this paper the losses of the electrical drive system

for electrical vehicles (EV) are investigated and modelled. For
this, the individual losses of the two main components, the
voltage source inverter (VSI) and the Interior Permanent Magnet
VSI IPMSM Gearbox
Synchronous Machine (IPMSM), are analysed and modelled. This
model considers the parameter variation and the dependency Battery
on the operating point of the IPMSM. Using multiple linear
regression, an approximation equation is found which describes
accurately the total loss of the VSI. Hence it enables to determine
the losses accurately by simulation. Pdc Pel Pmech
Psw Pc PCu PFr PFe
Keywords—loss modelling, synchronous motor, voltage source
inverter
Fig. 1. The electrical drive system of an EV and its power flow chart

I. I NTRODUCTION Id Rs Ld Id0

In the design phase of the electrical drive system for an

electrical vehicle (EV) the knowledge of the component losses
is very important. This simplifies the system design e.g. the RFe Ud0
thermal design, the component design and the dimensioning of Ud −ΩLq Iq
the battery system for a certain cruising range. Furthermore if
the total loss of the electrical drive system is known, then it can
be used as prior knowledge for operating the electrical drive Iq Rs Lq Iq0
system energy efficiently, e.g. by considering these losses in
the torque and current control system. For these reasons a loss
model for the electrical drive system of an EV is developed
in this work. It takes into account all significant losses of the
Uq RFe Uq0 Ω · (Ld Id + ΨPM )
electrical drive system in order to precisely describe the total
loss. In [1] and [2] the procedural methods for developing
of power loss models for industry synchronous motors with
small power (up to 5 kW) are discussed. The contributions
of this paper are twofold: first the methods developed in [1]
and [2] are adapted to the IPMSM for traction applications; Fig. 2. Field-oriented equivalent circuit of the IPMSM
second the VSI’s losses are approximated with an equation.
The coefficients of this equation are found using measurement
data and the multiple linear regression. II. I NDIVIDUAL LOSSES OF THE ELECTRICAL DRIVE
SYSTEM
Fig. 1 depicts the overview of the components of an EV and
A. Motor losses
the power flow chart of the electrical drive system graphically.
Herein the VSI supplies the IPMSM from the main battery and In order to model the losses of the IPMSM, the field-
the IPMSM is connected to the driving shaft via a gearbox. oriented equivalent circuit in Fig. 2 is proposed to use in [1]
The power flow chart shows the input electrical power Pdc and [2]. Herein Ud and Uq are the d- and q-axis voltages, Id
and the output mechanical power Pmech of the electrical drive and Iq are the d- and q-axis currents, Ld and Lq are the d-
system. In this chain two of the main components (VSI and and q-axis inductances. ΨP M represents the flux linkage of
IPMSM), the switching loss Psw and the conduction loss Pc the permanent magnet, Ω is the electrical angular speed of the
occur in the VSI and the copper loss PCu , the iron loss PF e machine and Rs represents the winding resistance of the stator.
as well as the mechanical loss PF r occur in the IPMSM. In order to model the iron loss, the equivalent resistance RF e ,

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978-1-4799-6782-7/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE
 TABLE I. M ACHINE PARAMETERS
the d- and q-axis voltage drops Ud0 and Uq0 are introduced.
Symbol Meaning Value
1) Copper loss: In general the copper loss is described by UDC DC Link Voltage 350 V
the stator resistance Rs and given by: IN /Imax Rated/ Peak Current 200 A/480 A

3 ( ) nN Rated Speed 4,000 rpm

PCu = · Rs · Id2 + Iq2 . (1) nmax Maximum Speed 12,000 rpm
2 PN /Pmax Rated/ Peak Power 56 kW/123 kW
TN /Tmax Rated/ Peak Torque 135 Nm/290 Nm
The parameter Rs is temperature-sensitive and therefore can ◦
Rs23 C Stator Resistance measured at 23◦ C 13 mΩ
vary during operation. Commonly, the dependency of Rs on
LdN d-Axis Stator Inductance 90 µH
the temperature of the stator windings is described by
LqN d-Axis Stator Inductance 410 µH
◦
· [1 + α · (ϑ − 23◦ C)]
ΨP M Rotor Flux Linkage 5.8 mVs
Rs (ϑ) = Rs23 C
(2) zp Number of Pole Pair 4

with α = 3.9 × 10−3 1/K as the temperature coefficient of the

17
resistance for copper.
2) Iron loss: The iron loss of an electrical drive summarizes 16

winding resistance [mΩ]

the eddy current loss and the hysteresis loss. In general the iron
loss is described depending on the currents Id , Iq as well as 15
the fundamental frequency Ω:
Ω2 ( ) 14
2 2
PF e = · (Lq Iq0 ) + (Ld Id0 + ΨP M ) . (3)
RF e 13
measurment
From eq. (3) it is also clear that the accuracy of the loss model curve fitting
depends on the parameters Ld , Lq and ΨP M . So the variation 12
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
of these parameters should be considered. winding temperature [◦ C]

3) Mechanical loss: The mechanical loss consists of the

Fig. 3. Measured winding resistance depending on the winding temperature
friction of the bearings and the air resistance due to the
rotation of the rotor. This loss depends on the rotating speed.
Therefore this dependency should be considered in modelling
2) Conduction loss: As also described in [3], [4], [5]
the mechanical loss, if the rated power of the IPMSM is small.
and [6] the conduction losses of an IGBT and a diode are
In case of an IPMSM used as traction drive for EVs, the
approximated by
deviation of the mechanical loss due to the dependency on the
( )
rotating speed is very small in relation with the rated power 1 m · cosϕ
of the machine. Hence the mechanical loss is assumed to be Pc,IGBT = + · UCE0 (Tj ) · Iˆphase
2π 8
constant in this paper. ( ) (6)
1 m · cosϕ
+ + · RCE (Tj ) · Iˆphase
2
8 3π
B. Inverter losses
and
1) Switching loss: The total switching loss of the three ( )
1 m · cosϕ
phase VSI is separated into the switching loss of the six IGBTs Pc,diode = − · UF 0 (Tj ) · Iˆphase
and the switching loss of the six diodes. The average switching 2π 8
( ) (7)
loss per one sine wave of an IGBT is proposed in [3], [4], [5] 1 m · cosϕ
and [6] to be approximated with + − · RF (Tj ) · Iˆphase
2
8 3π
fsw Iˆphase Udc Herein m is the amplitude of duty cycle in a sine wave and
Psw,IGBT = · Eon+of f (Uref , Iref ) · · (4) cosϕ is the power factor. UCE0 , UF 0 , RCE and RF are the
π Iref Uref
coefficients of the linear approximation of the IGBT and diode
and the switching loss per sine wave of a diode is proposed output characteristics and they can be found in the data sheet.
to be approximated with
III. L OSS MODELLING OF THE IPMSM
fsw Iˆphase Udc
Psw,diode = · Err (Uref , Iref ) · · . (5) In this section the development of the loss model of the
π Iref Uref
IPMSM used in this work is presented. The data of the machine
Herein fsw is the switching frequency of the VSI, Udc is the are shown in Table I. For the estimation of the parameters,
dc link voltage and Iˆphase is the amplitude of the motor phase this machine was measured on a motor test bench where
current. Eon+of f is the total switching energy of the IGBT the IPMSM was driven by an asynchronous machine (ASM)
and Err is the reverse recovery energy of the diode which are (Fig. 4). The control system for the IPMSM is implemented
measured at the reference current Iref and reference voltage on a dSPACE ds1103 rapid prototyping system. The power
Uref . These energies are given in the data sheet of the IGBT- consumption of the inverter and the machine is measured with
Module. a precise power analyser.

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 Shared 140
DC link
Power 120
Measurement

Ld [µH]
PDC
Pmech 100
PPhase
Load 80
VSI IPMSM TMS Machine VSI
(ASM) 60
MCU 0
0
100
ΩSet
−200
PWM 200
300
−400 400
TSet Id [A] 500 Iq [A]
dSPACE ds1103
- Control System
- Car Model
- Driving Cycles 800

600

Lq [µH]
Fig. 4. Overview of the motor test bench
400

500 200

450
0
0
400 0
−200 100
200
350 300
−400 400
Id [A] 500 Iq [A]
PFe + PFr [W]

300

250 Fig. 6. Saturated inductances Ld and Lq depending on current

200

150 points can be fitted with a line. The intersection of this line
100
with the ordinate gives the value of the mechanical power loss
PFr = 43.0 W PF r . For the IPMSM used in this work the mechanical power
50 loss is 43W.
0
0 30002 50002 60002 70002 80002 90002 100002 C. Estimation of the iron loss
n2 [rpm2 ]
In order to model the iron loss with the eq. (3) accurately,
Fig. 5. Estimation of the mechanical loss
the deviation of the parameters Ld , Lq and ΨP M has to be
investigated. The flux linkage ΨP M is a temperature-sensitive
parameter. The machine investigated in this work is equipped
A. Estimation of the copper loss with neodymium magnets. The flux temperature coefficient
of this magnet material is about -0.1 %/K. This means that
The winding resistance Rs describing the copper loss was in the worst case of 60 ◦ C rotor operating temperature, ΨPM
measured at standstill and at different winding temperatures decreases by 3.7 % . In comparison with the deviation caused
with a precise ohmmeter. The measurement result is plotted in by the flux saturation described in the following the derivation
Fig. 3. Furthermore the curve of the winding resistance calcu- of ΨPM is small and therefore can be neglected. In general the
lated with eq. (2) is added. It is visible that the approximation stator flux linkages of the IPMSM is described by
of Rs with eq. (2) is correct and this yields that the estimation
of the copper loss PCu with eq. (1) is accurate. Ψd = Ld · Id + Lqd · Iq + ΨP M , (8)
Ψq = Lq · Iq + Ldq · Id . (9)
B. Estimation of the mechanical loss Herein Ldq and Lqd describe the cross magnetization and Ld
and Lq are the self-inductances which are defined by
As described in [7] and [8] the mechanical loss is estimated
by measuring the mechanical power Pmech of the IPMSM ∂Ψd 
in generator mode. For this the IPMSM was driven by the Ld = I =const. (10)
∂Id q
load machine during the three phases of the machine are ∂Ψq
open circuited. In Fig. 5 the mechanical power loss in no-load Lq = |I =const. . (11)
∂Iq d
condition is plotted depending on the squared rotating speed. In
the middle speed range (3000rpm - 6000rpm) the dependency Due to the magnetic saturation these inductances are not
of the loss on the squared speed is linear and the measurement constant. In Fig. 6 the off-line measured inductances Ld and

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 8 000 50
motor speed [min−1 ]

6 000 45

4 000 40

2 000
35
0
30
80

RFe
motor torque [Nm]

25
60

40
20

20 15

0 10
40 Fitted Parameters:
el. input power Pel 5 Kh = 37.7776 measured
30 mech. output power Pmech Kf = 0.0218 curve-fitted
power [kW]

0
20 0 1 000 2 000 3 000 4 000 5 000 6 000 7 000 8 000
motor speed [min−1 ]
10

0 Fig. 8. Estimated equivalent resistance RF e and parameters Kh , Kf

1 500
iron loss PFe
copper loss PCu
PF r
power [W]

1 000 mechanical loss PFr

500
Ω
0 PF e
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
Ld,q K h , K f , ΨP M
time [s] LUT
(Fig. 5)
Fig. 7. Measured powers and losses
Iphase
◦
PCu
Lq of the machine used in this paper are plotted depending θ Rs20 C
, αCu
on the stator currents Id and Iq . Herein the inductance Ld is
reduced by about 50 % and Lq even by 70 % in comparison
to the no-load and therefore no current condition. In the loss
model the inductances Ld and Lq are stored in a look-up-table Fig. 9. Overview of the IMPSP loss model
(LUT) depending on the motor current.
The last parameter which is necessary to calculate the iron mechanical loss PF r and copper loss PCu from the measured
loss is the equivalent resistance RF e . Commonly the iron loss total loss Pl,IP M SM :
is approximated with
PF e = Pl,IP M SM − PF r − PCu . (15)
PF e = Kh · Ψ2 · Ω + Kf · Ψ2 · Ω2 (12)
Using the eq. (3) and (13) the equivalent resistance RF e is
where Kh and Kf are the coefficients of the hysteresis and curve fitted in Fig. 8 depending on the rotating speed and
eddy current losses and Ψ is the total air gap flux linkage [1]. consequentially the coefficients Kh and Kf are estimated.
From the eq. (3) and (12) the equivalent resistance for the iron With these parameters the iron loss of the IPMSM is modelled.
loss is calculated with In the forth diagram of Fig. 7 the individual losses of the
IPMSM are plotted. In Fig. 9 the procedural methods to model
1
RF e = . (13) the losses of the IPMSM are summarised. With the input
Kh variables Ω, Iphase and Θ the individual losses PF r , PF e and
+ Kf
Ω PCu are calculated.
Fig. 7 shows a measurement in which different motor speeds
(first diagram) and different motor torques (second diagram) IV. L OSS M ODELLING OF THE VSI
were set. The electrical input power Pel and the mechanical
The VSI used in this work is a HybridKit 2 from Infineon,
output power Pmech were captured in the third diagram using
where the module FS800R07A2E3 is built-in. In TABLE II
the power analyser. From this measurement the total loss
the parameters of this module are given. In general the total
Pl,IP M SM of the IPMSM is calculated with
conduction loss and the total switching loss of the module are
Pl,IP M SM = Pel − Pmech . (14) approximated by summing up the six individual conduction
and switching losses of the six diodes and IGBTs using the
The resulting iron loss is calculated by subtracting the known equations (4) - (7). However this requires precise knowledge of

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 TABLE II. PARAMETER OF THE H YBRID -K IT VSI (M ODULE
FS800R07A2E3); Tj = 125 ◦ C

motor speed [rpm]

8000

Symbol Meaning Value 6000

UCES maximum collector-emmiter voltage 650 V 4000
UDC dc-linke voltage 350 V
2000
ICN maximum collector current 800 A
0
fsw switching frequency 10 kHz 100 200 300 400 500 600
Iref reference current 550 A 60

motor torque [Nm]

Uref reference voltage 300 V
40
Eon+of f total switching energy of an IGBT 37 mJ
Err reverse recovery energy of a diode 11.5 mJ 20

the variables and parameters in these equations. Unfortunately −20

100 200 300 400 500 600
in case of the used module this information is given incom- time [s]
pletely in the data sheet. In particular the switching energies
are given only for currents higher than 100 A. So the total loss
of the VSI Fig. 10. Motor speed and motor torque set for the NEDC

Pl,V SI = Pdc − Pel (16)

power loss VSI [W]

1 000 measured
modeled
cannot be calculated exactly in the low current and hence in
the low load range. In order to estimate the total loss Pl,V SI 500
of the VSI for every operating point, a new loss equation is
proposed, which is independent from the energies. Based on
the equations (4) - (7), this equation still describes the linear 0
100 200 300 400 500 600
dependency of the total loss on the variables fsw , Udc , m, cosϕ time [s]
and the quadratic dependency on the phase current Iˆphase 30
relative frequency [%]

mean µ = 0.52%
Pl,V SI = b0 + b1 · m + b2 · cosϕ + b3 · fsw 20
deviation σ = 3.74%
(17)
+ b4 · Udc + b5 · Iˆphase + b6 · Iˆphase
2

10
From a loss measurement with n different operating points, the
loss vector P⃗V SI is given with 0
−20 −15 −10 −5 0 5 10 15 20
relative deviation ∆pVSI [%]
 
Pl,V SI,1
P  Fig. 11. Comparison calculated and measured power losses of the VSI
P⃗l,V SI =  l,V SI,2  . (18)
..
Pl,V SI,n
Furthermore the vector P⃗l,V SI also considers the loss of the
Furthermore the input matrix X consisting the measured input dc-link capacity and consequently the equation (17) describes
variables is given with the total loss of the VSI more accurate.
 2 
1 m1 cosϕ1 fsw,1 Udc,1 Iˆdc,1 Iˆdc,1
1 m2 cosϕ2 fsw,2 Udc,2 Iˆdc,2 Iˆ2  V. V ERIFICATION OF THE LOSS MODEL
X= .. ..
dc,2  . (19)
.. .. .. .. ..  In order to verify the loss model concerning the accuracy,
ˆ
1 mn cosϕn fsw,n Udc,n Idc,n Idc,n ˆ2
a model of an EV and the New European Driving Cycle
(NEDC) were implemented on the ds1103 system. With this
From the equations (18) and (19) the measured total loss of implementation the set point values for the motor speed ΩSet
the VSI is defined by and the motor torque T Set are calculated and given to the
P⃗l,V SI = X · ⃗b , (20) control system of the IPMSM and the load machine on the
test bench. This structure (Fig. 9) allows to test the IPMSM’s
with performance in compliance with the condition of a real car.
  The measurement was performed for the low driving speed
b0
⃗b =  b2  part as well as the high driving speed part of the NEDC.
 ..  . (21) Using the implemented car model the motor speed and the
bn motor torque plotted in Fig. 10 were calculated and set. In
Fig. 11 (top) the measured and the calculated power losses
The vector ⃗b and hence the coefficients from the equation of the VSI are compared. This measurement results a very
(17) can be fitted from the aforementioned measurement using good match between measured and calculated power loss for
the multiple linear regression algorithm (e.g. with the Matlab the VSI, both in the low speed and in the high speed range.
Statistics Toolbox). In comparison to the equations (4) - (7), The bottom plot of Fig. 11 confirms the accuracy of the model
the equation (17) does not depend on any data-sheet parameter. with the shown histogram. Herein the relative frequency of the

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 power loss IPMSM [W]3 000 3 000
measured
PCu,calc.
modeled
2 000 PFe,calc.
2 500 PFr,calc.
PPMSM,meas.
1 000 PPMSM,calc.
2 000

power loss [W]

0
100 200 300 400 500 600
time [s] 1 500
30
relative frequency [%]

mean µ = 2.96%
deviation σ = 9.8% 1 000
20

10 500

0 0
−20 −15 −10 −5 0 5 10 15 20 100 200 300 400 500 600
relative deviation ∆pIPMSM [%] time [s]

Fig. 12. Comparison calculated and measured power losses of the IPMSM
Fig. 13. Individual losses of the IPMSM

relative deviation given as

Pl,V SI,meas. − Pl,V SI,calc.
∆pV SI =
Pl,V SI,meas.
is shown. In order to evaluate the model, the statistic parameter
σ (standard deviation) is introduced and given in the histogram.
The loss model for the VSI results the standard deviation σ =
3.74% and the mean value of the relative deviation µ = 0.52%.
In Fig. 12 the measured and the calculated power losses
of the IPMSM are compared. The top plot shows the quietly
good match between the both diagrams in the low motor speed
range. Only in the high speed range the calculated loss deviates
more than 10% from the measured loss. In the bottom plot of
Fig. 12 the histogram of the relative deviation
Pl,IP M SM,meas. − Pl,IP M SM,calc.
∆pIP M SM =
Pl,IP M SM,meas.
is shown. For the chosen driving cycle the measurement results
the mean value of the relative deviation pIP M SM µ = 2.96%
and the standard deviation σ = 9.8%. This result is acceptable
because σ is small than 10%.
This deviation at the high motor speed occurs probably
due to the additional harmonic losses which has not been
considered yet. These additional losses occurs in particular in
the high speed range as discussed in [9], [10] and [11]. As
an outline of this work, these losses can be considered in the
equation 12 and 13 for improving the accuracy of the loss
model for the IPMSM.
In Fig. 13 the individual losses of the IPMSM are plotted.
This diagram shows that the iron loss PF e is the largest part
of the total losses of the IPMSM. Due to the small copper
resistance (Rs = 13mΩ), the copper loss PCu is small at the
low speed. An the high speed, the IPMSM is operated in the
field weakening and the large negative d-axis current Id is set.
This yields a large phase current and hence the copper loss is
recognisable in high speed range (eq. 1).
VI. C ONCLUSION
losses accurately, the loss model also considers the parameter
(22) variation of the IPMSM. For modelling of the losses of the
VSI, an approximated equation is used. The coefficients of
this equation were found using the multiple linear regression.
The loss model was verified with measurements and this
verification results a very accuracy.
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In this paper the losses of the electrical drive system for

EVs were analysed and modelled. In order to describe the

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