Software-Defined Power Electronics for Grid-Interactive Electric Vehicles

Transportation electrification is a key technology to addressing climate change. Electrified drivetrains use high-voltage batteries (or fuel cells) as energy source and require a number of power converters including a motor inverter, a battery charger, and a DC/DC converter to supply the auxiliary 12V battery. This talk focuses on a novel family of software-defined power converter concept based on Lego-like power electronic modules called auto converter modules (ACM). The ACM abstract key power electronic complexity, including the switching, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), and component protection, and leverage variable-frequency critical soft-switching (VF-CSS) to achieve a high efficiency and power density. ACM can be aggregated by software to form power converters for motor drives or battery chargers and are reconfigurable. This concept is leveraged to integrate the motor drive and a bidirectional battery charger that exceeds the 2025 DOE power density and cost targets. Drivetrains with readily available bidirectional EV charging can enable a wider adoption of vehicle to grid services. These grid interactive EV simplify the wider adoption of EV and facilitate the grid’s transition toward renewable energy by providing battery storage.

Matthias Preindl received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering (summa cum laude) from the University of Padua, Italy, the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering and information technology from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and the Ph.D. degree in energy engineering from the University of Padua, in 2008, 2010, and 2014, respectively. He is currently Associate Professor of Power Electronic Systems in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Columbia University, USA. Prior to joining Columbia University in 2016, he was an R&D Engineer of Power Electronics and Drives at Leitwind AG, Italy (2010-2012), a Post-Doctoral Research Associate with the McMaster Institute for Automotive Research and Technology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada (2014-2015), and a Sessional Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McMaster University (2015). He serves as the area editor of vehicular electronics and systems at the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology and is the general chair of the 2022 IEEE/AIAA Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo + Electric Aircraft Technologies Symposium (ITEC+EATS). He received several awards and honors including the Horiba Awards Honorable Mention (Japan, 2019), the Futura Foundation Award (Italy, 2017), the NSF CAREER Award (USA, 2017), and he is the co-recipient of several best paper and presentation recognitions including the 2019 IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics best paper award.

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