Advanced electric vehicle controls and power conversion electronics for transit buses and light rail
- MagneTek Inc., Santa Monica, CA (United States)
The majority of development which has taken place in AC electric vehicle drive technology has focused on small vehicles (i.e. 3,000 lbs and less) with emphasis on high performance and rapid acceleration. Examples of this type of development are the GM Impact and the Ford Ecostar. These vehicles have been developed to demonstrate technology advances by Detroit, but the high performance capabilities of these vehicles have raised expectations that cannot be met with contemporary batteries, or perhaps, any batteries. Larger vehicles such as buses, trucks, and even light rail cars may in fact be better near term targets for electric conversion since many of these vehicles have lower performance demands, and operate on fixed routes with designated stops for several minutes, allowing ``opportunity`` charging for range extension. The basis of this paper is to propose a near term drive system for large vehicles that overcomes some of the problems of electric vehicles to date, while providing a platform which is adaptable to future improvements in technology. The advanced transit bus will not only require power electronics for the vehicle drive, but will require power electronics and electric actuators for a variety of nonpropulsion equipment such as air conditioning, wheel chair lifts, and power steering. 6 refs.
- OSTI ID:
- 418636
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9409454-; ISBN 0-931033-53-5; TRN: IM9703%%32
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Mass transit system compatibility `94, Dallas, TX (United States), 17-22 Sep 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of mass transit system compatibility `94; PB: 419 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Detroit Commuter Hydrogen Project
Near-term electric-vehicle program. Phase II. Mid-term review summary report