Power Factor Improvement For An Electrical Vehicle Battery Charger

Abstract In this paper, a method to Improve the Input power factor in a battery charger used for electrical vehicles is introduced. First it is proved, theoretically and experimentally, that the power factor of the converter can be adjusted by controlling the battery charging current waveform. An optimization of the charging current waveform is then proposed to maximize the power factor. If the size and cost of converter are considered, the choice of the best control mode has to take them into account. A simple comparison of characteristics is therefore made between different control modes. A combined control mode is finally presented which allows a relatively small converter size, while giving a good power factor for most of the working time.