Demands for better

fuel economy and

more electric power

are driving cars

to multiple
higher voltages
ITHIN THE NEXT 10 YEARS,the electrical systems
in some luxury automobiles will be so changed as to
be almost unrecognizable Although they will
doubtless employ the old reliable 12-V lead-acid battery, their
loads will be driven by a variety of voltages, both ac and dc, perhaps derived from a single ac distribution network. Designers will
be able to match voltages to individual loads for best efficiency
and performance-lights perhaps at 6 V ac, electronics at 5 V dc,
active suspension at 350 V dc, and motors and actuators at 42 V
dc. The digital signals controlling those loads will be carried by a
separate communications network [Fig. 11
That, at least, is how a working group of engineers from makers of autos and automotive components envision the electrical
systems of luxury vehicles in the 2005-2015 time frame T h e
group, which gathered under the auspices of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology at the request of Mercedes-Benz AG,
expects the technology to spread to less opulent models as costs
drop [see "Planning for 2005,'' p. 271.
Semiconductors, of course, are the enabling technology that
will make it all possible (as well as making it all necessary). T h e
costs of solid-state power converters, switches, and logic devices
have been dropping steadily. T h e cost per watt today is less than
half what it was in 1990 and is fast arriving at a level that is practical for certain automotive applications.
JOHN G. KASSAKIAN Massachusetts lnstitute o f Technology,

HANS-CHRISTOPH WOLF Mercedes-Benz AG,

JOHN M.MILLER Ford Motor Co., 6;
CHARLES J.
22

HURTONGeneral Motors

Corp.

Iwo main forces are driving cars to multivoltage systemsthe quest for ever-greater fuel economy and the emergence of
new power-hungry automotive functions. Novel electrical equipment, like electromechanical valve actuators and active suspensions, will triple the aggregate electrical power demand in some
cars-from
800 W today to an average of 2500 W and a peak
value above 12 kW by perhaps as early as 2005. That power can
be more effectively distributed and utilized at voltages much
higher than today's I 2 V dc.
All the same, a large, complex infrastructure now supports the
12-V system with components and services Surmounting this
obstacle will require agreement within the industry on many new
system parameters, and reaching that agreement will take time.

The case for electrical efficiency

For better fuel economy, many devices now driven directly by
the engine will be driven electrically, That way, the speed of, say,
the water pump and the cooling fan can be varied to match the load
or even turned off when not needed. To get the most out of switching to electric drive, the requisite electric motors should be operated at voltages substantially above 12 V to boost their efficiency.
Fuel economy also dictates that electricity be distributed at
higher voltages, to reduce ohmic losses without resorting to a
heavy and expensive harness of large-gauge wire. Improving the
electrical system's efficiency so it lops 100 W off the average electrical load has the same effect on fuel economy as reducing the
car's weight by 50 kg, as measured by the FTP (Federal Test Procedure) 75 standard profile of starts, runs, and stops [Fig. 21
Even more to the point, the U.S. Corporate Average Fleet Efficiency (CAFE) standard prescribes a maximum fuel consumption rate for cars sold in the United States. The Federal govern-

0 0 1 8 ~ 9 2 3 5 / 9 6 / $ 50 0 0 1 9 9 6 I E E C

ILLL SPFCTRCIM

A U G U S T IQ96

[ I ] A trend toward localized control of loads is evident

in these three versions of electrical distribution systems
for automobiles.
With the present 12-V distribution network, drivers
control loads through manual switches or relays. Wiring
aggregates at a fuse box, from which it travels throughout the vehicle to the electrical loads.
The near-future (circa 2005) topology employs a com.
munications bus to transmit signals from paint-af-eantrol switches to remote power switches in distribution
boxes. The power bus fans out to the loads through
semiconductor switches under control of the communications bus.
In the distant future loads will connect to the power
bus at their locations in the vehicle. Such an architecture
easily accommodates options and system changes.

rise to 50 percent. If the partnership's green car is

not to be a bare-bones model, then it will have to
incorporate a truly superior electrical system.
Another strong motivator for electrical efficiency is the high cost of automotive electricity-a lot
more than homeowners pay for theirs. The cost (can
be calculated in a straightforward way. Gasoline has
a heat energy content of 43.5 megajoules per kilogram and a density of 0.73 kg/L, which gives it a
volumetric energy content of about 32 MJ/L, or
8.8 kWh/L. Thus if the engine efficiency is 40 percent and the alternatorhelt efficiency is 45 percent,
a liter of gasoline furnishes approximately 1.6 kWh
to a car's electrical system. Assuming a gasoline
price of US 34 cents per liter, the cost of generating
electricity in a car works out to about 21 cents per
kilowatt-hour, substantially more than the 8 cents
per kilowatt-hour average price of residential ellectricity in the United States.

Overcoming load-dump tyranny

ment assesses a penalty of US $5 for every 0.1 mile per gallon

(0.04 kilometer per liter) below 27.5 mi/gal (8.55 UIOO
km) on
every car the manufacturer sells. A 200-W electrical load
accounts for about 0.4 km/L in the FTP 75 cycle test, so, iF a manufacturer is delivering 25-mi/gal (9.41 U100 km) cars, for example, it can justify spending more per vehicle on components to
improve electrical efficiency.
At present, when U.S. and European fuel economy tests are
conducted, only those electric loads essential t o the operation of
the vehicle are active-that is, the ignition and engine electronics. Lights, air-circulating blowers for the passenger compartment, entertainment electronics, power windows, and so forth
are all turned off for the tests. But this could soon change. If a
typical average electrical load is required during tests, the electrical performance of the car will become much more visible.
Nowhere will this visibility be greater than in the 80-milgal
"green" car. A midsized car resembling a Ford Taurus or Chevrolet
Partnership for a New Generation
Lumina, it is the goal of the U.S.
of Vehicles (PNGV), which comprises 11 Government agencies
and the Big Three's U.S. Council for Automotive RNesearch
(European manufacturers are pursuing the same goal, a car that
consumes 3 VI00 km.) But unless the electrical system in today's
car models is improved, over 25 percent of the green car's fuel will
go to electrical loads. And if some mechanical functions swch as air
conditioning and power steering are electrified, that fraction could
KASSAKIAN ET AL

ALITOMOTIVE ELECTKICAL SYSTEMS CIRCA 2005

Power electronics in future automobiles will

perform two functions: simple odoff switching
(now done by relays and manual switches) and
controlling loads with logic, inverters, and dcdc converters. Together, the two classes of power electronics involved will not only accommodate higher voltages but also overcome basic defects in the
conventional 12-V system, such as widely varying system
voltage and destructively high voltage transients.
T h e voltage in a 12-V system actually ranges from about (3 V
to 16 V, depending on the alternator output current, battery age
and state of charge, and other factors. Loads are sized to function properly at the lowest system voltage, thus, when the voltage is higher, they draw more current than necessary. Load components therefore need to be rated for continuous operation at
the highest current.
Then there is the notorious load-dump transient, a voltage
spike that appears on the system when a fully loaded alternator
suddenly loses its load-for example, when a charging battery is
inadvertently disconnected. The voltage behind the alternator's
armature reactance then suddenly shows up on the system, a
40-v, 100-ms transient if the alternator is protected by avalanche
diodes, and 80 V or more if it is not. T h e switches and load components therefore have to be rated for temporary overvoltages at
least four times the nominal system voltage.
This requirement is an expensive one, especially for semiconductor switches. A load dump may never occur during the life of
a car, yet components have t o be ready to handle it. T h e result
is that load devices have to be grossly overrated both for continuous current and transient voltage.
In future cars, however, power electronic converters will pro

23

vide an interface between the alternator and the distribution system, making it unnecessary to overrate components T h e alternator in such a car can be allowed to generate an unregulated
output that varies with engine speed; power-conditioning circuitry will take that output and turn it into a constant, transientfree system voltage for distribution. It will then be unnecessary
to overrate either the load components or the semiconductor
devices that control them.
Semiconductor manufacturers are doing their part in developing advanced power devices for cars. For example, Siemens AC,
in Munich, now offers smart power switches expressly for automotive service. These MOSFET devices not only do high-side
switching, disconnecting the load from the supply voltage bus
instead of from ground, but they also shut down if their temperature rises excessively. They also can protect themselves against
overcurrents, and act as resettable fuses with the aid of associated logic, either monolithically integrated with the MOSFET or
packaged with it as a hybrid integrated circuit.
Until recently, a big impediment to acceptance of power
MOSFETs in automobiles has been their high on-state drain-tohas been
source resistance, known as RDs(on)Typically,
100 m n for a device switching 10 A, giving a 1 -V /orward drop
at a junction temperature of 125 "C and dissipating 10 W-not
particularly efficient. Now, however, Siliconix Inc., Santa Clara,
Calif., offers power MOSFETs, made by trench technology, that
have an R,,,(,,,of
, only 16 m a at a substantially higher junction
temperature, 175 "C.Other manufacturers are beginning to offer
similar devices.
Further, as noted, the cost of power electronic converters is
rapidly approaching the low levels that make them practical in
cars. From 50 cents per watt in 1990, the cost has dropped to
15-20 cents per watt for converters with 100-3000-w ratings.
When costs fall to 5-10 cents per watt, wide penetration of the
automotive market can be expected.

Laying the groundwork

T h e MIT working group came up with a list of features it
anticipated would be offered as options in luxury car models for
the year 2005, and calculated their electric power demands for
both summer and winter [see table]. Some of these loads, such
as the water pump, replace existing mechanical loads, some, like
the electrically heated catalytic converter, are a response to regulatory mandates, and some are suggested by safety or driver
24

convenience, the heated windshield, for example. Most of the

new loads would benefit from a voltage higher than 12 V dc,
and several, such as the electromechanical valves and active suspension, would require much higher voltages.
Incidentally, the group took an electrically driven air-conditioning compressor into consideration as a future electrical load. Its
chief advantage would be packaging flexibility, since a drive belt
would no longer be needed and the compressor could be placed
anywhere in the vehicle. Also, with electric drive, the compressor
speed could be varied to match the cooling load efficiently. But the
load would be very large, and since it is now supplied effectively
by a mechanical drive, the merits of conversion to an all-electric
compressor drive in high-end cars are controversial.
There is little doubt, though, that the green car envisioned by
the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles will be electrically air conditioned. That midsized car will have t o be designed to cut the cooling load to i .5kW, however-about half
of what today's equivalent cars consume.
T h e loads that are included on the list seem amply justified.
A case in point is the active suspension system, whose introduction may very likely parallel that of air conditioners in automobiles. Thirty years ago, few cars had air conditioning, today it is
difficult to buy a car in the United States without it. When first
introduced, air conditioning was a very expensive option-up
to 10 percent of the purchase price of the car. It also put a big
dent in fuel economy at a time when the price of gasoline was
higher in real dollars than it is today. But the comfort it afforded was so valued by consumers that within a decade, air conditioning became dejacto standard equipment.
T h e MIT group foresees a similar future for active suspension
systems, which keep the passenger compartment on a flat trajectory as the car wheels swerve and bounce over potholes, ruts,
and rough roads. T h e systems sense a vehicle's vertical accelerations and energize electromechanical actuators t o counter them
[Fig. 31. Expensive, heavy, and power-intensive (although not
energy-intensive), an active suspension system will need voltages of about 350 V to operate efficiently. But it can improve a
rider's comfort to the same extent that air conditioning did, and
car buyers will probably embrace it just as enthusiastically.

No timing chain
ther case in point is electromechanical valve control.
today's engines, a camshaft acts on the valve stems to
en and close the valves. As the crankshaft drives the
camshafts through gears or a chain or belt, the timing of the
valves' openings and closings is controlled by the cam design,
and is fixed relative to piston position. This means that engine
performance (in terms of emissions or fuel economy) is optimal
over only a narrow range of engine speed.
If the valves were electromechanically actuated, however,
they could be opened and closed without regard to crankshaft
position. They could operate optimally at all engine speeds,
torque levels, temperatures, and any other variables the designer includes. In fact, valve timing could be made part of a closedloop emission-control system
Moreover, an electromechanical system would eliminate the
heavy and complicated camshafts and timing chains or gears.
T h e valves would be actuated by sending current pulses through
spring-loaded solenoids with the valve stems as their cores.
Electromechanical valves offer other interesting possibilities.
For example, the valves can all be opened at the beginning of engine start-up, relieving compression and greatly reducing the
cranking torque needed, so that smaller batteries and starter motors could be used. In fact, the peak power of the starter motor
might be close to that of the alternator, so that a combined
startedalternator might become feasible. The starting torque
might even be so low that the engine could be turned over
IEEE SPECTRUM

AUGUST 1996

through the fan belt at start-up, and the combined starterlalternator could then simply be mounted in the place now occupied by
the alternator.

Start without moving

Even more intriguing, when combined with direct fuel injection, electromechanical valves may be able t o start an engine
statically, with no initial rotation whatsoever. Valves t o the
appropriate cylinders would be closed, and fuel would be injected into them and ignited, turning over the engine. If static starting should prove feasible, the battery could be designed for
energy storage only, not for cranking power, and its 'size could
be much reduced.
Another new kind of load, the electrically heated catalytic converter, is a direct response to environmental concerns and mandates. T h e electric heater will get the catalytic converter up t o
temperature quickly, which is important because a converter can
reduce nitrogen emissions only when it is hot; the electriiz heater
ensures that it gets hot within a few seconds after engine start-up
instead of the many minutes required for heating by exhaust gases. In fact, one proposal calls for preheating the catalytic converter from a dedicated battery before start-up. Such heatel-s could
eliminate a large source of pollutionemissions from cold engines.

ed that the present 12-V dc system cannot be upgraded to handle

future electrical loads; it would cost too much, weigh too much,
and be too inefficient. Instead, the 12-V alternator will be replaced
by a more efficient, higher-voltage design. Instead of being internally regulated at a constant voltage; the its voltage (and power)
will increase with speed, so that its full capacity is exploited. An
external power electronic interface will take that unregulated output and produce well-regulated ac or dc-or both.
T h e battery will still be a 12-V unit, though, because it will
be the most reliable and economical electricity storage medium
available. New battery technologies may eventually be practical
for automobiles, but not by 2005. Doubling the battery voltage
t o 24 V would have a disproportionate effect not only on cost
per ampere-hour, but also on reliability because of the greater
number of cells and thinner plates.
An essential part of the new electrical distribution system will be
load management. It will ensure that advanced loads, such as the
active suspension, get the high power they need for the brief time
they need it, coordinating power demands so that the alternator
and power converters will not have to be sized unrealistically. It
will also ensure that safety-critical loads such as power brakes and
steering take precedence, and that "key-off" loads-the clock and

Learning from MAESTrO

In examining the costhenefit attributes of active suspensions, electromechanical valves, and other electric
loads, the MIT working group used a
computer program called MAESTrO
(for Multiattribute Automotive Electrical System Tradeoff),which MITk Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems originally developed for
Mercedes-Benz. The program takes as
its input the network topology and
load types, voltages, powers, and duty
ratios (load factors). It then determines
the parameters of the loads (such as
cost, weight, and efficiency), wires
(such as gauge and loss), converters
(weight and loss), transformers, and
other components from its built-in
models, and produces as output the system attribute values for specific designs
showing how they compare [Fig. 41.
For example, design A may be lighter than design B but may cost substantially more. Design B may cost
half as much as C, but C may be considerably more energyefficient. With
these MAESTrO-generated plots, it
is easy to identify a "Pareto-optimal
frontier'-that is, a line along which
all designs are equally "good" but have
different degrees of acceptability.
With this program, unacceptable
designs can be eliminated, narrowing
the field of acceptable possibilities and
making final selection a tractable and
structured task. With the help of this
program, the MIT working group was
able to probe the key issues and reach
a consensus with deliberate speed.
And what is the consensus? Not
surprisingly, the group quickly decid-

[2] The FTP (fur Federal Test Procedure) 75 driving cycle is a standard for measuring fuel economy. It subjects a car to a series of starts, runs at various speeds, and stops for prescribed periods. The only electrical loads marndalted during an FTP 75 test are those necessary to operate the vehicl-that
is, ignition
and engine control electronics. That may change, though; typical average operating loads may be added.

units

accelerometers

[3] An active suspension keeps passengers on an even keel by sensing accelerations and controlling
actuators at several points on the chassis. The suspension system demands high peak power-about
12 kW. Although its average power consumption is a modest 200400 W,the energy storage components and electrical distribution network must be able to handle the high peak load.

KASSAKIAN ET AL - A U T O M O T I V E ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS CIRCA 2005

25

[4]The MAESTrO program plots the attributes

of cost, weight, and losses to make tradeoff analysis easier. Here car
design A is lighter than
car design B, but costs
much more. The cost of B
is only half that of C, but
C is much more energyefficient. A is said to be
"dominated" by C and B
with respect to cost ver-

q
0

, ~ ,A

weight
5

, , , ,
10

;1
0

, ,c;

, ,

Losses
5

BA

,
10

sus losses.

[5]A hypothetical electrical distribution system of the future delivers power to loads over a high-voltage, medium-frequency bus. The alternator's ac output is converted to regulated ac for the bus and dc for the battery. Distribution boxes convert the ac bus voltage to whatever is needed by local loads.

security system+an
draw power when the engine i s offr but not
discharge the battery to the point where the car cannot be started.
Loads will be switched on and off by semiconductor switches controlled through a data bus of optical fiber o r copper. T h e
power MOSFET is the switching device of choice because i t is
efficient and rugged and its manufacturing technology is well
understood and widely practiced. Moreover, MOSFET power
switches can be driven directly by a car's electronic control units.
Whether the distribution is ac, dc, or a mixture of both will
depend on manufacturers' individual choices, and their assumptions about cost, performance, manufacturability, controllability,
repairability, adaptability, and reliability. Whatever the electrical
distribution architecture, it should be compatible with existing
12-V dc loads. This design will allow the present 12-V dc infrastructure to be used while new, more efficient, or functionally
improved loads at other voltages are introduced.
As happens now, lamps and motors will account for most of the
electrical load. Incandescent lamps will continue to be powered at
12 V,regardless of whether the power supply is ac or dc, because
tungsten filaments for low voltages are shorter and less fragile than
those that operate at higher voltages. In fact, short-filament 6-v

26

incandescent lamps are so rugged and so much easier to focus than

12-V units that some manufacturers may return to them, especially for cars with ac distribution, where transformers make downconverting from the high-voltage bus especially easy.
For headlights, high-intensity gas o r metal-vapor discharge
technology will probably replace tungsten. They are already
available as an option in the new Mercedes-Benz E-class car,
providing twice the light at half the power.
Motors and actuators will definitely benefit from a higher,
regulated voltage; at 12 V, motors lose 15 percent of their energy in the brushes alone. T h e dc motor, brushed or brushless, will
be the choice for most applications such as fans and pumps because of its efficiency at high voltage, as well as its easy control,
low cost, and high quality and reliability.
Where high torque at low speed is needed-in
window lifts
and windshield wipers, for instance-the ultrasonic motor with
its low-profile pancake-like shape i s promising. T h e Lexus already uses ultrasonic motors to adjust its headrests.
T h e upper limit on motor voltage will be set by safety concerns and semiconductor device voltage limitations. Many auto
makers favor 42 V dc, which can readily be handled by power
IEEE SPECTRUM A U G U S T 1996

MOSFETs made by the standard 60-V process. It corresponds to

the average full-wave rectified output of a single-phase 4-8-vnns
ac distribution source. Also, it is not so high as to present a serious shock hazard t o humans who accidentally touch it.

The typical model

f these predictions prove correct, what will a "typical" top-ofthe-line automobile in 2005 look like?Although, certainly, variations among manufacturers can be expected, the model car
has an alternator, directly driven by the engine, that produces a
variable-frequency, variable-voltage output [Fig. 51. From the alternator, a front-end converter creates two outputs: 25 kHz ai3 at 48 V
nns for the main power bus and i 2 V dc for charging the battery.
The dc-ac portion of the converter is bidirectional so the battery
can supply essential loads when the key is off. The starter is still
i 2 V and gets its power from the battery; the power-hun;gryelectrically heated catalytic converter takes its power directly from the
alternator.
To minimize wiring complexity, the ac main power bus feeds distribution boxes located throughout the vehicle. Containing MOSFET switches and fuses, the boxes are controlled by a separate data
communication network that allows each box to convert the ac bus
voltage into the voltages needed by the loads it serves. For {example,
a distribution box near the trunk might provide appropriate voltages
to the tail lights, fuel pump, rear window defroster, retractable
antenna, and an audio system. Another distribution box in the passenger compartment might control door locks, windows, side-view
mirrors, compartment lights, and seat heaters.
Figure 5 can also be used t o visualize an exclusively sdc highvoltage architecture. In this case, the front-end Converter will be
an ac-dc-dc converter and dc-dc converters will replace the
transformer-rectifier combinations to provide voltages (different
from the bus voltage, which will probably be 42 V dc.
The details of the models of the future will of course varyJ and
some manufacturers may choose to eschew ac distribution altogether. But clearly the new models will b e more power hungry
than today's already complex high-end automobiles, with their
1500 wires, innumerable branch points, as many as threle dozen

To probe further
For a description of multiplexed digital communication buses in motor vehicles, see
"The Thick and Thin of Car Cabling," by
Mark Thompson, /E Spectrum, February
1996, pp. 42-45.
The authors will present their findings in detail in "The Future of Automotive Electrical Systems," at the IEEE Workshop on
Power Electronics in Transportation, to be
held in Dearborn, Mich., in October.
Two documents constitute the starting point
of the discussions of t h e working group at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
One is a seminal report by the Society of
Automotive Engineers' (SAE) DuallHigh
Voltage Study Group, "DuaVHigh Voltage
Vehicle Electrical System," by J. Vincent
Hellman and R. J. Sandel, SAE paper
911652. Another is a comprehensive paper
on high-voltage automotive systems,
"Design Consideration for Higher Voltage
Automotive Electrical Systems," by M. Matouka, SAE paper 911654. Both appear in
the Proceedings of the SA Future Transportation Technology Conference and Exposition, Portland, Ore., August 1991.
KASSAKIAN ET A L

microprocessors, and more than two dozen sensors.

The t 91 8 edition of Putnami AutomobileHdndboo~-The Cave a n d
Management of tbe Modern M o t o r Car ( b y H. Clifford Brokaw
and C . A. Starr: G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York) told readers: "It
takes good 'juice' and lots of it t o run a modern auto; not the
kind Uncle Sam has put a ban upon, [but] the electric 'juice.' "
With the possible exception of the nostalgic reference t o the
Prohibition Era, that observation is pertinent today and will be
even more true 90 years after it was written.

For information about emerging electrical

functions in automobiles, see "The Future
of Vehicle Electrical Power Systems and
Their Impact on System Design" by G. A.
William!; and M. J. Holt, Proceedingsof the
SA Future Transportation Technology
Conference and Exposition, Portland,
Ore., Auigust 1991, and "Control of Engine
Load via Electromagnetic Valve Actuators"
by Mark A. Theobald, B. Lesquene, and R.
Henry, SAE paper 940816, February 1994.
For examples of MAESTrO analyses, see "Alternative Electrical Distribution System Architectures for Automobiles," a paper by
K. A. Afridi, R. D. Tabors, and J. G. Kassakian in the Proceedings of the / E Workshop ofit Power Electronics in Transportation, Dearborn, Mich., October 1994.

About the authors

John G. Kassakian (F) is professor of electrical
engineering and director of t h e Laboratory
for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, where h e works in power
electronics and automotive electrical systems. He is founding president of the IEEE

AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS CIRCA 2005

Power Electronics Society and coauthor of

the textbook Principles of Power Electronics (Addison-Wesley,Boston, 1991).
Hans-Christoph Wolf is in charge of developing future power train management platforms at Mercedes-Benz AG, Stuttgart,
Germany. He was previously responsible
for developing advanced electric power
distribution systems for the Advanced Engineering Group there.
John M. Miller (SM) is staff technical specialist, Vehicle Electrical Systems Department,
at Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich. His
principal interests are control of electric
machine drives and actuators, and power
distribution system architecture. He is active in the PNGV.
Charles J. Hurton is manager, electrical subsystems and planning, at General Motors
Corp.'s North American Operations Engineering Center Division, Warren, Mich. In
earlier assignments at General Motors, he
was manager, electrical component applications, and manager, medium-duty truck
vehicle electrical systems.
Spectrum editor: Michael J. Riezenman
27