Coup-e 800: electric high-performance powertrain with 800 volt powernet

The AVL prototype electric vehicle Coup-e 800 employs a powerful powertrain with voltages up to 800 V in the power board net. Thus 1200 Volt semiconductor technology is used for the main components. The Coup-e 800 has undergone over a year of testing and driving, and covered 9,000 km of road use and a variety of test bed tests. This article reports on the suitability of this electric vehicle for everyday use and examines where there is room for improvement. A key factor for day-to-day use and customer acceptance could be the charging electric vehicles. At home a cost efficient way of charging is desirable, that maintains battery life. For long range driving the charging infrastructure and the charging speed will become more important. Coup-e 800 offers several options for fast or economic charging. Improvement to be made is to continue finding the optimum voltage level, that utilizes the 1200V IGBTs best.