Test Solutions for Electric Vehicle Charging Applications

The automotive industry is advancing in power management technologies and new batteries through new efficient and flexible solutions to meet market demands. Measurement systems play an important role and have to meet more and more stringent technical requirements. Keysight Technologies launched the SL1200A Series Scienlab Regenerative 3-Phase AC Emulator for electric vehicle (EV) and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) charging applications and grid-edge applications. The system is composed of hardware, software, consulting and support services.Get more news about Vehicle Test Solutions,you can vist our website!

In an interview with Power Electronics News, Kevin M. Cavell, Solution Manager of Keysight’s Automotive and Energy Solutions (AES) business unit, and Julian Tomczyk, AES Solution Marketing Specialist, at Keysight Technologies, highlighted the importance today of having a test system that certifies the reliability of the powertrain in an electric vehicle. Keysight is focusing on the main challenges in charging interfaces of electric vehicle (EV) and EV supply equipment (EVSE), as well as grid-edge power converters. The Keysight SL1200A Series Scienlab Regenerative AC Emulator, SL1040A Scienlab Charging Discovery System (CDS) – Portable Series, and the SL1047A Scienlab CDS – High-Power Series were specifically designed to meet the technical requirements of customers.

Along with the company’s SL1040A and SL1047A Scienlab Charging Discovery System, the SL1200A provides a complete solution that enables customers to create real-world charging scenarios with confidence and provides the ability to meet global standards.

The advent of electric vehicles is expected to create significant demand for charging on the grid, while expanding the opportunity for energy storage through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) power applications. The advent of distributed and renewable energy solutions will help in this transition phase leading to increased grid complexity with numerous testing challenges within EV/EVSE and grid-edge charging applications.
The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is speeding up the trend towards a more sustainable future. The key performance in the EV design are the battery and the propulsion system. The design parameters involve power level, conversion efficiency, operating temperature in the vehicle powertrain system, thermal energy dissipation capacity, and the system package.

In the case of electric vehicles, systems must be adapted for high voltage measurements (up to 1000 V or even more) to ensure safe and reliable operation. The most challenging application is the testing of vehicles under real driving conditions. Harsh environments, temperatures from -30 C to +60°C and various types of terrain require suitable measuring instruments.

“At the component level, Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors are used in the different power converters inside the EV, as well as in EVSE (and grid-tied inverters). Double-Pulse Test equipment is needed here. WBG modeling and circuit simulation is also a valuable tool that can be used,” said Keysight.

Keysight highlighted as for the battery the process starts with the cell. “High volume manufacturing is needed to supply the large quantities of cells for EVs. This manufacturing equipment is needed to take the cells through their initial charge/discharge (called formation) and then grade the cells based on quality. While most grading can be done in a few minutes, measuring self-discharge during cell aging is a lengthy test that requires many days, creating large work-in-process inventories stored during the aging. To help reduce inventory costs, Keysight offers a unique instrument that can reduce the self-discharge measurement from days to hours and thus, cut down on aging and speed up cell grading.”