Perspectives and Limitations of a Fully Electric Low Voltage Propulsion Architecture 2022-01-0679

In the context of CO2 emissions reduction, investigations are currently made in various directions among the automotive sector: internal combustion engine efficiency improvement, downsizing, electrification, vehicle weight reduction. Meanwhile, a new type of vehicle is emerging in the automotive sector. This study analyses the perspectives and limitations of a low voltage electric vehicle (<60V), with only two people capacity. One of the main challenges of this new type of vehicle is to identify the best suited powertrain architecture, given the different constraints and needs (power, mass, acceleration, range, etc.). With the advantage of reducing the safety constraints linked to high voltage applications, but at the expense of higher currents when power level increases, a proper powertrain components sizing is mandatory, therefore limiting the advantages of such architecture. To better evaluate the evolution of the powertrain parameters, a simulation tool has been built to analyze the implications on the performances, efficiency and cost.