Chargers from 30 kW to 150 kW

E-mobility is the future. By now it is well on its way to revolutionize private and public transportation, reduce air pollution and make the Earth a better place to live. Providing efficient charging infrastructure is key to supporting and promoting this worldwide megatrend as it continues to spread.

In order for the masses to adopt e-mobility, they must feel confident in and trust the charging infrastructure available. That’s why it needs to be convenient, fast and safe. In China, for instance, the region currently dominating the EV charging market, it’s common to build a fast charger using 15 kW to 30 kW sub power modules, then stack them to create a 150 kW EV charging solution.

For DC EV charging designs up to 150 kW, you can achieve the best price for performance by using Infineon’s discrete products. This includes our 600 V CoolMOS™ SJ MOSFET P7 and CFD7 families, 650 V IGBT TRENCHSTOP™ 5 and 1200 V CoolSiC™ MOSFET. Our high voltage switches portfolio is complimented by 650 V and 1200 V CoolSiC™ Schottky diodes. Since every switch needs a driver, and every driver needs to be controlled, we also offer the right EiceDRIVER™ as well as XMC™ and AURIX™ microcontrollers for EV charging designs. OPTIGA™ products round out the offer, ensuring data protection and security.

With a broad portfolio of high-quality discrete solutions, Infineon offers the right electrical components to create efficient, cost-optimized EV charger designs. Simply stated, Infineon is the only one-stop shop for fast DC EV charging that enables you to achieve higher efficiency and increased power density.

An EV charger system with a power rating between 30 kW and 150 kW typically relies on two-stage power conversion. It combines base subunits of 15 kW to 30 kW stacked to deliver up to 150 kW of power. A standalone charger of this power level is usually fed by a utility three-phase AC power supply. Typically, system level isolation occurs on the DC-DC converter side. Lower power subunits add functional modularity to the system, enabling a converter design to consist of discrete power components. Explore a system diagram of an EV charger from 30 kW to 150 kW here:

Topologies and conversion

An AC-DC system comes after an EMI filter, converts AC into DC voltage and usually has a controlled rectifier. Either level 2 active front end (AFE) or level 3 Vienna Rectifier topology is preferred for this stage. Each ensures a DC link voltage of 800 V to 900 V. In particular, Vienna Rectifier is widely used for its higher efficiency. It also enables usage of 600 V power devices. Thanks to components like 1200 V CoolSiC™, level 2 active front end with a power factor correction topology is growing in popularity. Its capability to operate bi-directionally makes it particularly attractive.

The DC-DC conversion stage is shown in two systems: DC voltage to high frequency AC voltage on the isolation transformer’s primary side, and high frequency AC to DC voltage rectification on the secondary side. The applicable topologies are commonly resonant, hard switching full bridge, phase shifted, ZVS, full bridge converters. Resonant LLC converter topology with a single bridge (1200 V SiC) or cascaded bridges (600 V) is widely used in this power conversion stage.

The first episode of our new podcast series introduces you to the topic of charging electric vehicles: In particular, what scenarios are available for charging, what does this mean for the respective topologies and how can designers deal with it? Our expert has all the answers and gives you an exciting insight into the beginnings of electric mobility.