Development of a High Current Charger for Small Electric Boat Commuting

Abstract: Electrification of the transport system is an important societal project which we are currentlyundergoing. With improvements in battery technology it is now possible to construct quite powerfulpersonal vehicles to replace combustion engines in not only cars but also motorcycles and boats. Thisproject aims to develop a highly flexible, high-powered Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) battery charger forplacement on harbors and marinas with three-phase electrical connections. The charger would beconstructed with a 'Controller Area Network' (CAN) bus as its communications network to which moremodules can easily be added such as smart grid devices for load sensing and balancing. The charger wasconstructed as a controllable step down DC-DC converter, using an Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor(IGBT) for the switch. Using a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller, the voltage, current and power outputcould be measured and controlled. Goals for power delivery were met as the charger was able to deliverin excess of 100A to a test load. Instead of the CAN bus the whole system was developed to run self-contained on the charger microcontroller unit.