Dr. Temoc Rodriguez obtained his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Cambridge. He has worked in the field of power electronics for over 20 years, and he is currently Global Technical Expert on electric propulsion systems at Ricardo. Prior to joining Ricardo, Dr. Rodriguez worked in the field of renewable power generation, industrial power supplies and motor drives, and aircraft electronic systems. He is currently leading electrification developments in automotive and aerospace programmes, including gallium nitride traction inverters, and highly integrated on-board chargers and dc/dc converters. He also leads industrial research with academic partners from leading universities in the UK. He spearheaded the innovations in the XL Connect V2G bidirectional 2-in-1 highly integrated On-Board-Charger and DC/DC converter using a common magnetic core to achieve higher power densities.
What was your original motivation to become a researcher/project manager?
I have always been passionate about technology. It was a natural step to go from technology user to technology creator and working in industries that have seen some of the fastest technology developments such as renewable energy and electric mobility. It gives me great satisfaction to create new technological solutions to improve the world we live in.
What is your (main) research area today?
I work across all the electrified technologies necessary for propulsion of electric vehicles, from batteries to electronics and motors. I specifically look at next generation of technologies that will bring improvements in cost and performance.
What is the main focus of your team in XL-Connect?
In the case of the XL Connector V2G OBC I want to get us to a higher performing product at a lower material cost. We have used prior know-how on on-board-chargers and added a bidirectional functionality to enable use-cases like V2H, V2V, and V2G. On top of that, we have integrated an isolated DC/DC converter using the same magnetic core which provides top-up power for the vehicle 12V battery.
From all your activities within the project, what are you the most proud of/keen to share with the public?
In XL Connect we designed, built, and tested the V2G OBC. Getting to the testing phase and running the protocols for vehicle to grid power transfer successfully was a big milestone. This technology will revolutionise how power networks are managed, adding battery energy storage in the EVs to support the electricity network powered from solar and wind energy.
How do you expect the XL-Connect results will impact your organisation?
The technology demonstration of the XL Connect V2G OBC/DCDC will provide a boost to the exploitation of the technology. Ricardo has a number of possible customers to follow on from this work to bring the technology to market.
