The design and construction of a communication system with a microcontroller used for an electric vehicle charger rated at 7.40 kW

Abstract

This article presents the design and construction of a communication system with an Arduino UNO microcontroller used for an electric vehicle charger, rated 7.40 kW. It is still the beginning of the era of using electric vehicles. As a result, the number of charging stations open as public services is still low. Moreover, the charging stations currently available are quite expensive because they must be ordered from abroad. This electric vehicle charger is economical and suitable for general use in the local area. In this research, an electric vehicle charger uses a single-phase AC as a power source and charges an electric vehicle through the conductor. Its operation is divided into two parts. The first part is the power section which consists of the AC power supply, relay circuits, protection circuits, and electric vehicles. The second part is the control section which consists of a 5V/12V DC power supply, charging current adjustment button, microcontroller control circuit, current reading circuit, voltage reading circuit, communication circuit, and current transformer for measuring the charging current of 0-32 A, rated at 7.40 kilowatts. The vehicles used for testing are ORA GOOD CAT. Users can view the percentage of battery charging through an application on a smartphone. From the test, it was found that the charging time for electric vehicles at a current of 32 A is equal to 10 hours, and the measured current is 29.80 A at a charging percentage of 99%. The charging time for electric vehicles at a current of 18 A equals 17 hours, and the measured current is 17.70 A at a charging percentage of 100%. The charging time for electric vehicles at a current of 12 A equals 25 hours, and the measured current is 11.50 A at a charging percentage of 99%. The charging time for electric vehicles at a current of 6 A equals 52 hours, and the measured current is 5.90 A at a charging percentage of 99% respectively. The errors of all experiments did not exceed 6 %. Therefore, it can be concluded that this electric vehicle charger is economical but still works efficiently. It helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and pollution from PM2.5 dust, and reduces exhaust fumes and noise pollution as well.