“We have reached the tipping point: [it’s] the beginning of mass EV adoption – the internal combustion engine has seen its day.” —Forbes
It’s happening right in front of our eyes: more EVs mean more charging stations which means the need for a larger, more efficient charging ecosystem. As Luca Martini points out in a recent article, “great effort went into improving the capacity and lifetime of batteries, but a widespread EV charging network is also a fundamental condition to allow long trips without concerns about range or charging time.”
An efficient, fast-charging DC infrastructure relies on one thing: accurate measuring of power. (Because of ease of use, AC was initially employed, but DC proved it could deliver dramatic efficiency improvements.) So precision DC energy metering has become critical, not in the least as it applies to billing. This means accurate metering is required across the entire ecosystem, from charging stations to server farms to microgrids. Not surprisingly, to date this has proven difficult.
Crocus is taking an innovative approach to metering, employing CT43x TMR current sensors. These high accuracy isolated contact current sensors, paired with an integrated current carrying conductor (CCC), handle up to 65A. The high sensitivity and wide dynamic range deliver excellent accuracy (very low total output error) across temperature. The solution integrates two Crocus XtremeSense® Tunneling Magento-resistance (TMR) full bridges in parallel orientation, along with a U-shaped internal conductor to reduce the effects of stray external magnetic fields on the current measurement. See an example of the performance of these in an energy metering solution in this application note.
The result is the high accuracy required for energy metering that can be applied across the entire ecosystem – the perfect solution for our soon-to-be EV landscape.
