Renesas Electronics launches a successful portfolio solution for 48V EV applications

     Renesas Electronics announced the launch of a 48V EV application success portfolio solution to help customers accelerate the development of e-scooters, e-bikes, hybrid vehicles, UPS and energy storage systems. The reference design uses a modular approach in both hardware and software to showcase core and optional functional blocks for a variety of 24V-48V applications such as lawn mowers, trolleys, robot cleaners, power tools, mobile power supplies, and more.

     The successful portfolio uses 15 Renesas IC products, including three key components: the ISL94216 16-cell battery front end (BFE), the robust HIP2211 100V MOSFET driver, and the RX23T 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) for motor control. The solution is powered by a 25AHr lithium-ion battery that drives a 1600W inverter up to 5,000 RPM.

     D.k. Singh, Marketing Director, Electronic Systems and Solutions, Renesas, said: "Micro-vehicles such as electric scooters and e-bikes offer an attractive and low-carbon way to travel for the first and last kilometre. As cell balancing technology plays an increasingly important role in the charging process, the growing demand for such applications is driving new battery management capabilities. "Our new 48V EV application portfolio combines Renesas' advanced BFEs, industry-leading MCUS, analog and power devices, and innovative motor control technologies to help customers accelerate the development of high-power and high-torque e-scooters and e-bikes."

     The successful 48V EV portfolio includes two boards to meet the higher battery count and power levels required for EV applications. BFE and charger boards focus on larger, higher voltage battery packs. The motor control and inverter boards feature synchronous current/voltage measurements with drivers that use pulse width modulation (PWM) technology to drive the motor and monitor its condition. The algorithm and hardware are very suitable for driving brushless DC (BLDC) motors. In addition, the solution offers two optional boards - a wireless charging receiver board and a Bluetooth Low Energy ® (BLE5.0) control board.

     For system control, the new successful portfolio features cost-optimized and energy-efficient RX23T MCUS, a built-in floating-point arithmetic unit (FPU) and six high-performance timers dedicated to complex inverter control algorithms. These specific features and modular design help engineers significantly reduce software/hardware development and debugging time. In addition, unlike other high-capacity single-chip battery managers, the highly integrated ISL94216 offers multiple features to balance and monitor system health, extending battery life and improving safety independent of the MCU. The successful portfolio solution also uses the ISL81601 60V bidirectional 4-switch synchronous boost/buck controller for ultra-fast charging; The controller's CC/CV charger profile runs through the system MCU.