New Motor Driver Launched for MHEVs
Texas Instruments (TI) has released a highly integrated Grade 0 brushless DC (BLDC) motor driver for 48-V high-power motor control systems, such as traction inverters and starter generators in mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs).
The DRV3255-Q1 can help designers shrink their motor system size by as much as 30% while providing the industry’s highest gate-drive current for increased protection and output power.
“A 48-V system is a step-change that original equipment manufacturers [OEMs] can implement to meet goals around reducing emissions, while also adding power for advanced driver-assistance system features and managing power-hungry loads such as the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system,” said Asif Anwar, director of the powertrain, body, chassis and safety service at Strategy Analytics. “Combining leading-edge performance characteristics with functional safety and Grade 0 translates to real-world, system-level operational benefits that will help OEMs achieve these goals.”
Meeting the most stringent safety requirements, the new motor driver was designed according to TI’s TÜV SÜD-certified functional safety development process, helping enable up to Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) D.
To help decrease greenhouse gas emissions globally, automobile manufacturers are increasing the production of MHEVs, which use 48-V motor-drive systems to help reduce emissions from a vehicle’s internal combustion engine.
The TI Functional Safety-Compliant DRV3255-Q1 allows manufacturers to design a motor-drive system to help enable MHEV systems up to ASIL D, supplying as much as 30 kW of motor power which can improve the response time of a 48-V motor-drive system in heavy vehicles.
The DRV3255-Q1 is the industry’s first three-phase, 48-V BLDC motor driver to integrate high- and low-side active short-circuit logic, which eliminates external transistors and control logic.
By integrating the active short-circuit logic and dynamic fault response, the new motor driver enables designers to not only simplify their designs but also supply as much as 30 kW of motor power while reducing board space and bill-of-materials cost in 48-V the systems.
