Charging applications from 200 W to more than 5 kW

Off-board versus on-board battery chargers

Depending on their power requirements, LEV batteries can be charged either directly from the grid (i.e. any standard wall outlet) through a dedicated on-board charger or through the use of a low cost off-board charger.

Off-board chargers are more suitable if:

• the LEV can be easily located / moved close to the charger (even with an empty battery!) (i.e. e-bikes, folding e-scooters)
• the LEV battery does not require a complex battery management system, e.g. low cost sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries (i.e. low cost scooters, electrical wheelchairs)
• whenever charging requires very high power, because of limitations of weight/volume on the vehicle itself – as is the case for electrical forklifts

AC on-board chargers are more suitable if:

• more flexibility in charging is needed (no special infrastructure has to be installed, no need to carry additional charging equipment) (i.e. low speed EVs (quadricycles), golf carts, small electric lift trucks)
• more complex battery management systems are used, e.g. for Lithium ion batteries (i.e. high power e-scooters)

The on-board charger’s performance is evaluated by its power-conversion efficiency and power quality (i.e. total harmonic distortion and power factor). As for all items installed in the vehicle, size (the smaller, the better), weight (the lighter, the better), and lifetime (the longer, the better) are critical parameters.

Energy efficiency – critical factor in developing countries

At this moment, the battery charger market for LEVs is mostly cost driven, as most LEVs being sold today are low cost two- and three-wheelers. However, as the number of LEVs is expected to grow further, the efficiency becomes particularly important. Taking into account that the vast majority of LEVs sold each year are deployed in developing countries with weak local power grids, every percentage point of efficiency increase translates into significant energy savings. A noteworthy relief of the national power networks!

Infineon’s LEV battery charger solutions

Infineon’s LEV on-board and off-board battery charger solutions comprised of power MOSFETs, gate driver ICs, PWM/flyback based controllers, integrated power stage ICs and microcontrollers are optimized to fit any system. In order to satisfy as many customer requirements as possible different topologies are available and meeting a variety of cost / performance optimization targets is possible.

Customers benefit from small form factors, best-in-class performance ratio (attractive pricing with competitive long term price down roadmap), easy-to-use technologies, powerful and reliable components.

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OPTIGA™ Trust – Authentication at its best

Another particular aspect of interest for chargers is their close connection with the type of battery stacks that they are supposed to charge. Practically, any LEV manufacturer selects different variants of batteries that best fit its own, very specific applications. The battery chargers must hence be designed with the proper charging algorithms for the corresponding battery stacks chosen by the LEV manufacturer. It is not advisable to connect any charger type to any battery! Otherwise there can be a significant risk of damaging the batteries, and void the manufacturer’s warranty. Infineon’s OPTIGA™ Trust security solution is easy to use and implement, and will ensure that only the right type of charger is used in connection with a certain type of battery, reducing the risk of hazardous damage/fires.

CoolMOS™ - Cutting-edge power MOSFET technology

Our CoolMOS™ P7 offers the optimized balance between high efficiency and ease of use. Customers may choose from 71 parts in 9 different packages with an impressive RDS(on) granularity ranging from 24 mΩ to 600 mΩ. Industrial and standard grade packages are available.

Our CoolMOS™ CFD7 fulfills customer needs by providing efficiency improvements of up to 1.45 % compared to previous CoolMOS™ families and most similar competitive offerings. Its attractive price convinces with a competitive long term price down roadmap.

System diagram: 2 kW battery charger for light electric vehicles

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