Optimal design of ICPT systems applied to electric vehicle battery charge

Although the use of inductively coupled power transfer (ICPT) systems for electric vehicle battery charge presents numerous advantages, a detailed design method cannot be found in the literature. This paper shows the steps to follow in the optimized design of an ICPT system and the results obtained in their application to the four most common compensation topologies, pointing out the best one in terms of minimum copper mass and proper stability conditions. A new design factor KD is proposed to select the optimum configuration for each topology. Finally, the theoretical results are validated on a 2-kW prototype with a 15-cm air gap between coils. Index Terms--Bifurcation phenomena, compensation topologies, contactless energy transfer, electric vehicles (EVs), inductive power transfer.