EV is a great engineering achievement that ought to replace the ever-polluting hydrocarbon-hungry Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). EV is more energy efficient (note I use energy-efficient, not green. Save for future discussion) as compared to ICE making is favourable to combat climate change. EV is a lot easier to make as compared to ICE. Some may disagree but let us put that argument aside as for now. The challenge in EV does not lie in its electrical design, but more in how you can secure the procurement of materials used to make the EV. However, there is an interesting electric characteristic of EV that put many engineers’ heads rolling. By this, I mean EV is EMI good friends. You cant design an EV with no EMI. You can minimize EMI to some extend, but it is too much to handle by many. How is this possible? Well, modern motors aren’t what we used in remote control (RC) toy car. It is a complicated multi-strategy motor that uses complex switching power electronics controlled by a high-speed complex microcontroller. The switching power electronics or also known as the inverter is very EMI generous i.e. they emit everything from conducted emission to radiated emission. If I can show you the spectrum analysis of a radiated emission of an EV, you will be amazed by how noisy this piece of art. You can’t just eliminate them. Eliminating EMI in the inverter equals to the wheels not turning. The strategy here is how to contain them below a certain ‘acceptable’ threshold. That threshold could be a thin red limit line in the report. But will that be enough? Well, the intention of this post is to remind us that EMI is a good friend of EV, are you up to the challenge to design an EV system with low EMI? You are probably scratching your head now and that is just not good enough.
This blog is for general information purposes only. RF EMC CENTRE MALAYSIA SDN BHD makes no representations or warranties, oral, or written, express or implied, regarding the information contained in this blog. You are responsible for consulting and complying with all laws.