Control methods for performance improvement of an integrated on‐board battery charger in hybrid electric vehicles

Abstract

This paper presents control methods for performance improvement of an integrated onboard battery charger (OBC) in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). HEVs generally consist of an OBC and a starter generator system (SGS). Since these each have a power conversion device for independent operation, such as battery charging and starter generator driving for engine starting, it necessarily increases the number of components, weight, and volume of the HEV. In order to overcome these disadvantages, recent research concerning the integrated OBC has progressed. Although it demands installation of power relays and an additional circuit, the integrated OBC is effectively operated for battery charging and starter generator driving. This paper proposes not only a harmonic reduction method of grid current, but also a feed‐forward control method for performance improvement of the integrated OBC in HEVs. The effectiveness of the proposed control methods is verified by simulation and experimental results.