Study of the Advantages of Internal Permanent Magnet Drive Motor with Selectable Windings for Hybrid-Electric Vehicles

This report describes research performed on the viability of changing the effectively active number of turns in the stator windings of an internal permanent magnet (IPM) electric motor to strengthen or weaken the magnetic fields in order to optimize the motor's performance at specific operating speeds and loads. Analytical and simulation studies have been complemented with research on switching mechanisms to accomplish the task. The simulation studies conducted examine the power and energy demands on a vehicle following a series of standard driving cycles and the impact on the efficiency and battery size of an electrically propelled vehicle when it uses an IPM motor with turn-switching capabilities. Both full driving cycle electric propulsion and propulsion limited starting from zero to a set speed have been investigated.