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Automotive & EV

A charger that throttled before it reached rated power

A light electric vehicle startup

11 min → continuous

Time at rated output

elevated

Validated ambient

none required

Enclosure change

The problem

A charging unit was specified for a continuous output it could not actually sustain. Under sustained load it heated until thermal protection reduced output, which in practice meant charge times far longer than the specification promised.

What we did

  1. 01

    Mapped the thermal behaviour of the existing unit to identify where heat was actually generated and where it was failing to leave.

  2. 02

    Reworked the power stage layout to move heat into the board plane deliberately rather than relying on the enclosure.

  3. 03

    Reconsidered the switching device selection against real thermal performance in this specific layout.

  4. 04

    Validated at elevated ambient rather than at room temperature, so the specification reflects the environment the product actually operates in.

Outcome

The unit sustained its rated output continuously at elevated ambient, and the specification became something the company could publish without qualification.

A worked example: a representative problem of this type, and the reasoning we would apply to it.

Next project

A soil sensor that had to last a season on one charge

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