Much of that is down to the feel-good factor conjured up by the cheeky styling inside and out, although the go kart-like handling also goes some way to explaining why the MINI is so popular. Seen by many buyers as a baby BMW, there’s nothing exclusive about the model, yet this is a car with a following that rivals haven’t been able to emulate. But accept that before buying and you should love the MINI ownership experience.įew cars have enjoyed the enormous sales success of the BMW MINI since it first arrived in 2001. With plenty of cherished examples on the market to choose from, buying a MINI Convertible needn’t be that much of a gamble if you do your homework the biggest disappointment for many owners is the poor practicality. And thanks to their decent build quality, these are also cars that wear their age very well. As a result, you can buy one of these second-generation MINIs and many people won’t know how old it is. Those in the know can distinguish the three generations of MINI Convertible that we’ve had so far, yet to the casual onlooker they look much the same. It does not store any personal data.BMW has been very clever with the MINI’s design, because from the outset it has been evolutionary. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin.

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Moreover, the VNH7100BAS is suitable as a new and innovative solution for driving HV contactors (Figure 7). Combined these diagnostic and protection circuits allow designers to deliver safe sensitive applications with a high level of reliability and miniaturization. The VNH7100BAS embeds several diagnostics (current sense, diagnostic in off state, and temperature monitoring) along with protection circuits (power limiting, current limiting, over-temperature, and cross-current protections). Designed in VIPower technology, it incorporates a dual monolithic high-side and two low-side switches in an SO-16N package on an electrically isolated lead-frames. The VNH7100BAS is a full bridge for DC motor drivers. VNH7100BAS: a Fully integrated solution also for HV contactor The high-side driver monitors the current profile to properly drive the HV contactor, while the low-side driver is driven using PWM to modulate the load current profile.īoth high-side and low-side drivers are needed to protect the HV contactor against short circuit vs GND and Battery and to achieve proper safety levels. A control voltage applied on the coil creates a magnetic field that attracts the movable iron core to the fixed one, connecting the power lines to the load.įigure 6: Circuit topology for external economizer One core is fixed and surrounded by an insulated copper coil and another movable one. Quality and reliability: VIPower devices as HV contactor driver to increase system robustnessĪ contactor, as shown in Figure 4, consists of two iron cores. Summing up, there are 8 HV contactors in BEVs, 5 in PHEVs, and 3 in HEVs. A second contactor – a precharge contactor – is needed before closing the main contactor to charge an initially discharged DC link capacitor, avoiding in-rush current that can damage the battery and the loads.īattery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) use utilize contactors in both the AC/DC charge and in the DC/DC fast-charge equipment, as well as in the accessory domain (Figure 3). The main contactors are used to connect or disconnect the battery pack to power electronics they can disconnect very quickly in the event of an accident. Two main contactors and one precharge contactor are implemented in all the EVs, starting from basic hybrid electric vehicles to pure electric ones.

Pack solution 2015