HIGH VOLTAGE vs. LOW VOLTAGE: POTENTIAL IN MILITARY SYSTEMS

Power and energy demands on military vehicles and other large systems have been increasing significantly and modifications to these power systems are being explored on several programs. A key decision in a new power system is determining whether to use “high voltage” or “low voltage” for distribution throughout the vehicle. This decision has far reaching consequences throughout the vehicle and needs to be made after careful consideration. This paper addresses key trade-off criteria for consideration when comparing high voltage and low voltage vehicle architectures and then addresses a few other considerations for this type of decision.