OPAL-RT and NI solution helps to engineer EV DC Fast-Charging Systems for the Trans-Canada Highway

The company

The Centre for Applied Power Electronics (CAPE) at the University of Toronto, founded by Dr. Reza Iravani, is a premier research center specializing in advanced power electronic systems and grid integration. Partnering with eCAMION, a Toronto-based energy storage company, CAPE led an ambitious project funded by NSERC and TargetGHG ($2.4M) to engineer a nationwide EV fast-charging infrastructure along the Trans-Canada Highway—one of the world’s longest highways at 7,821 km.

The challenges

• Grid Capacity Constraints: Traditional power grids cannot handle the sudden, massive energy spikes required to fast-charge multiple EVs simultaneously in 20 to 30 minutes (Level 3 charging).
• High-Voltage Safety & Risk: Developing and testing 60-kW high-voltage, high-current converter power electronics directly on physical hardware presents significant safety risks and high costs.
• Complex Multi-Stage Control: The system required two distinct charging sequences (grid-to-battery and battery-to-EV) with series-connected chargers, local controllers, and a supervisory control system.
• Tight Development Timeline: The project required designing, configuring, fine-tuning, and certifying a commercial-grade converter prototype in under two years.

The OPAL-RT solution

CAPE and eCAMION implemented a combined OPAL-RT and National Instruments HIL/RCP simulation workflow:

• FPGA-Based Power Electronics Toolbox (eHS): Utilized OPAL-RT’s eHS toolbox for real-time, ultra-fast FPGA simulation of the power electronics converter core and high-frequency transformers.
• Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Testing: Connected the real-time eHS power electronics model to an actual NI cRIO-9082 embedded controller to validate local and grid-interface control algorithms safely.
• Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP): Alternated iteratively between offline simulation, HIL real-time simulation, and RCP to optimize control parameters and soft-switching phase-shift gating strategies.
• Seamless Hardware Interfacing: Validated the 10 kHz isolated DC-AC-DC converter topology under realistic operating conditions prior to physical prototype fabrication.

The results

The DGCC project successfully demonstrated the next generation of grid management:

• Expedited Time-to-Market: Developed, built, and certified a fully functional 60-kW DC fast-charger prototype in less than two years (January 2018 – June 2019).
• Regulatory Certification: The final converter design achieved full UL and ESA safety approvals.
• De-risked High-Voltage R&D: Using real-time eHS simulation drastically lowered development costs and eliminated safety hazards inherent in testing high-power physical prototypes.
• Optimized Power Converter Performance: Achieved soft-switching via phase-shift control and 10 kHz switching frequency, significantly reducing magnetics and filter sizes.
• Environmental Impact: The fast-charging network along the Trans-Canada Highway is projected to reduce carbon emissions by 0.7 million tonnes over its first five years of operation.

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