Soft-switching becomes a reality for EV drivetrains

Soft-switching at high frequencies used to be impractical. Now, a new approach, using a forced-resonant topology controlled by AI, is delivering inverters that are 98.5 percent efficient at 5 percent load, and 99.57 percent peak.

Bruce Renouard, CEO of Pre-Switch Inc, explains the benefits.

Transportation is in a period of great change as electrification asserts itself as the preferred technology for a greener, sustainable future. But the automotive internal combustion engine has enjoyed over 100 years of heavy investment, development and refinement.

EVs, by contrast, are still emerging and – in many ways – have some catching up to do. Limited range is one of the major concerns for people when they look into EVs. Charging time is another. Both these factors demand that EVs must be as efficient as possible. Which is one of the main reasons why the EV industry is so interested in soft-switching, which promises very high efficiency across the full load range.

Various soft-switching architectures have been discussed for many years, but until recently, soft-switching at high frequencies has been impractical. Now, a new approach, using a forced-resonant topology controlled by AI, is delivering inverters that are 98.5 percent efficient at 5 percent load, and 99.57 percent peak, resulting in increased EV range of up to 12 percent.

These performance figures are part of the reason why one former Audi EV drivetrain designers believes that “in future, all EV inverters will need to use soft-switching”.