Volvo XC40 RC-E

Batteries, Inverters, Motors

The power source of the vehicle’s electric motor is it’s battery pack.  However, the battery generates a direct current which must be converted to an alternating current before being supplied to the motor.  This is the role of the inverter.  The inverter controls the frequency of the alternating current, which controls the speed of the motor.  It also changes the amplitude of the current that controls the power output of the motor.  Put simply, the inverter acts as the brain of the electric vehicle.

AC power frequency

Mass-produced electric vehicles inherently have errors in the total battery power being generated, which leads to deviations from the optimal AC frequency to the inverter. 

Each mass-produced EV’s motor inherently has a different final power output.  However, most, if not all manufacturers will use a standard program to operate the inverter in every vehicle that leaves their factory.   As a result, the frequency of the power supply will deviate from the optimal for a particular vehicle.

Improved performance

Radical’s RC-E compensates for the error in the frequency of the power supply to allow the motor to be operate more efficiently.   This is achieved with a chip in the RC-E. 

RC-E does not write any coding onto the car ECU, it only corrects the signal from BMS to the motor(s), therefore it will not required any software updates in the future.