Comprehensive review of battery charger structures of EVs and HEVs for levels 1–3

Summary As battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug‐in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) gain popularity among the consumers, current research initiatives are targeted at developing battery charger structures that can exploit utility power to charge vehicle batteries and thus less dependent on fuel usage. This paper reviews the state of the art and implementation of battery charger structures, charger power levels, and the evolution of publications on electric vehicles in the digital libraries and Espacenet patent base. Charger systems addressed are categorized as a structure with a non‐isolated alternating current (AC)–direct current (DC) stage, structure with an isolated AC–DC stage, and structure with two non‐isolated stages. Advantages and disadvantages of each conductive battery charging structure have been discussed due to weight, volume, cost, necessary equipment, the complexity of topologies, and other factors. In addition, both off‐board and on‐board charger systems with unidirectional or bidirectional power flow are presented. Several electronic converters for power‐level chargers are being developed to allow plug‐in vehicles to be capable of vehicle to grid (V2G), where they can function as distributed resources and power can be returned to the grid.