3D Innovation for Electric Cars

Researchers at the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used 3-D printing to construct a high-efficiency power inverter that takes up less space than current technology, the department announced this week.

The inverter, an essential component in ELECTRIC VEHICLES that converts direct current from the battery into alternating current to power the motor, weighs 4 pounds and uses silicon carbide as what is called a wide bandgap material, which is capable of operating at higher temperatures and with greater efficiency than traditional semiconductor materials.

Using 3-D technology — also known as additive manufacturing — for half the inverter’s parts allowed the researchers to place lower-temperature components closer to high-temperature elements reducing electrical losses and size.

“With additive manufacturing, complexity is basically free, so any shape or grouping of shapes can be imagined and modeled for performance,” said Madhu Chinthavali, who led the project. “We’re very excited about where we see this research headed.”

The group plans to use a larger percentage of 3-D printed parts in an new inverter that they expect will have four times the power density of this PROTOTYPE and be half the size of current commercial units.