A comprehensive analysis, comparison and cost estimation of five-level bidirectional converters for the electric vehicle
(EV) operation in smart cities context is presented in this paper. Nowadays, five-level converters are widely used with
success to interface between the power grid and renewable energy sources, as well as, to operate as motor drivers.
Therefore, with the EV introduction into the power grids arises a new opportunity to use such five-level converters as
interface between the power grid and the EV batteries, i.e., in on-board charger applications. Moreover, considering the
future scenarios of smart grids and smart cities, the five-level bidirectional converters will be essential for the operation
modes grid-to-vehicle (G2V, charging the batteries from the power grid) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G, returning energy
from the batteries to the power grid). In this context, this paper presents an aggregation of the most important five-level
bidirectional converter topologies that can be applied for on-board EV chargers in smart cities context. Along the paper
it is presented a detailed description of the hardware and control algorithms of the five-level converters, and are also
presented and explained simulation results performed under realistic operating conditions. Finally, it is presented the
cost estimation for a real application considering the hardware requirements for each one of the converters.This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e
Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013 and by the ERDF – European Regional Development Fund
through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation Ǧ COMPETE 2020 Programme, and
by National Funds through the Portuguese funding agency, FCT Ǧ Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, within
project SAICTPAC/0004/2015-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016434.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
