Modeling and Simulation of Electric Vehicle with Synchronous Reluctance Motor

Abstract

Induction motors were used as traction motor in automotive industry for a long time. Synchronous reluctance motors which were invented in the 90s are now considered superior to induction motor. An increasing concern for making the traction motors efficient resulted in making the synchronous reluctance motor technology important. The existed technologies for the synchronous reluctance motor did not produce sufficient saliency in the rotor design, which made them infamous for traction purpose. But the leading electric vehicle and electric motor manufactures around the world made them a prominent motor for traction purpose. This paper discusses about the importance of synchronous reluctance motor for traction purpose in electric vehicle by modeling, simulating and controlling the motor and comparing it with brushless DC motor and permanent magnet synchronous motor in MATLAB Simulink. Although there is various driving cycle for vehicle simulation in MATLAB Simulink, a standard driving cycle was created to simulate real driving conditions. Vehicle battery is the limiting factor in any electric vehicle, the energy drain from the battery is optimized to ensure the range out of the vehicle is maximum. The temperature dependence model for the brushless DC motor and permanent magnet synchronous motor are also simulated and discussed.