A 90 Percent Efficient 5kW Inductive Charger for EVs

This paper presents the design of a 5kW inductive charging system for electric vehicles (EVs). Over 90% efficiency is maintained from grid to battery across a wide range of coupling conditions at full load. Experimental measurements show that the magnetic field strength meets the stringent International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines for human safety. In addition, a new dual side control scheme is proposed to optimize system level efficiency. Experimental validation showed that a 7% efficiency increase and 25% loss reduction under light load conditions is achievable. The authors believe this paper is the first to show such high measured efficiencies for a level 2 inductive charging system. Performance of this order would indicate that inductive charging systems are reasonably energy efficient when compared to the efficiency of plug-in charging systems.