Magna International Inc.
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED BATTERY CHARGING AND PROPULSION IN PLUG-IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Abstract:

A system and method for integrated charging a vehicle includes a hybrid excitation machine, operable as a traction motor and including a rotor separated by an air gap from a stator with AC windings. An AC utility line power supply is connected to the AC windings providing an electrical current to the vehicle and inducing a magnetic flux across the air gap and in the rotor. A short circuit, an open circuit, or a DC voltage may be applied to a DC winding in the stator to reduce the magnetic flux into the rotor. A field coil in the rotor may be excited with a DC voltage using a secondary coil on the rotor in a traction mode. The secondary coil is excited by the stator windings using field-oriented control in a "self-excited machine" embodiment, and is directly excited by a separate primary coil in an "externally-excited machine" embodiment.