A DC chopper controller for a battery electric vehicle

The battery electric vehicle is presented as a pollution free alternative to the internal combustion engined vehicle as a form of commuter transport in city centres. To conserve battery energy as much as possible, an efficient drive system, consisting of a chopper controller and a permanent magnet motor, is described and tested in four modes of operation - two modes of motoring and two of regenerative braking. From the experimental results, it was estimated that approximately 10% of the energy expended by the vehicle during motoring could be returned to the battery if regenerative braking is employed under stop-start driving conditions. The operation of transistor and thyristor choppers is described, and their suitability for use in a vehicle drive system is discussed. A proposed vehicle control system, incorporating a thyristor array and associated logic for implementing the mode selection, is described and evaluated.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Electrical Engineering

Year dc:date.issued

1973

Author dc:creator

• Claassen, Michael David

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Enslin, NC de V

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17667

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17667