Inverter boost for hybrid and electric vehicles

Electric and hybrid vehicles rely on inverters to ensure that enough electricity is conveyed from the battery to the motor during vehicle operation. Conventional inverters rely on components made of the semiconductor material silicon.

Now researchers at the Future Renewable Electric Energy Distribution and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center at North Carolina State University (NC State) have developed an inverter using silicon carbide (SiC), a wide-bandgap semiconductor material.

“Our silicon carbide prototype inverter can transfer 99 per cent of energy to the motor, which is about two per cent higher than the best silicon-based inverters under normal conditions,” said Iqbal Husain, ABB Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State and director of the FREEDM Center.

“Equally important, the silicon carbide inverters can be smaller and lighter than their silicon counterparts, further improving the range of electric vehicles,” added Husain, who co-authored two papers related to the work. “And new advances we’ve made in inverter components should allow us to make the inverters even smaller still.”