A review on single-phase, single-stage OBC topologies for EVs with 48 V powertrains

Electric vehicles use for urban mobility are rising with the new generation of 48 V powertrain technology. However, the challenge is to select onboard charger (OBC) topologies with less complex, economically feasible, and highly efficient battery chargers for these electric vehicles (EVs). At present, traditional multi-stage converters are being used by compromising efficiency, volume, weight, and cost. Single-stage OBC topologies can be designed by combining a few functions of a muli-stage coverter with a reduced number of components. They are aiming to eliminate issues related to multi-stage converters. However, the stress on power devices of single-stage OBCs can lead to other issues such as the requirement of expensive high power devices, thermal control, etc. This paper reviews single-phase, single-stage OBC topologies feasible for EVs with 48 V powertrain technology. Especially the isolated bidirectional AC–DC converters are considered as to include the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability.