Rugged WBG Devices and Advanced Electric Machines for High Power Density Automotive Electric Vehicles

This work explored two very important approaches for supporting transportation electrification and reducing dependence on imports of critical materials. In the first task, several novel electric machine architectures with low rare earth metal content were compared analytically, then experimentally to verify their performance. Rare earth metals are imported largely from China and are widely used in many clean energy systems such as wind turbines and EV motors. Reducing our dependence on this critical material is an important objective for ensuring our independence and continued economic prosperity. In the second task, a GaN based inverter for EV inverters was developed to demonstrate the suitability of that wide bandgap semiconductor device in this important application.. Authors: Veliadis, Victor [North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)]; Bhattacharya, Subhashish [North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)]; Husain, Iqbal [North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)]. DOE Contract: EE0008705. Subjects: 42 ENGINEERING; GaN; Wide bandgap; device characterization; electric machine; gallium nitride; inverter; traction motor