A review of research and development on switched reluctance motor for electric vehicles

Energy crisis and the environmental pollution all over the world have forced the developed countries to pay attention to the research and development of electric vehicles which can save energy and also reduce environmental pollution problems. The internal combustion engine (ICE) automotive vehicles have extremely low overall efficiency of 20-30% and they contribute majorly to environmental pollution in urban centres. The electric vehicles, on the contrary, are highly efficient and can offer zero emission. These qualities made the electric vehicles a better option than the traditional ICE automobiles. The electric machine is a key part of the electric vehicles. Comparing various types of motor the switched reluctance motor has a lot of merits over the other types. These make it the preferred machine for electromechanical power train application. The switched reluctance motor drive system is at first briefly described in this paper and subsequently followed by the summary of the research progress on the drive system. The progress summary includes the SRM design, control strategy, the position detection technology and the vibration and noise. The paper ends with suggestion for further research work.