Patent ID: 8115433

Claim:
An electrical system for use in a vehicle, the electrical system comprising: an energy source; a motor having a first set of windings and a second set of windings, the first set of windings being electrically isolated from the second set of windings, and the motor including a stator having a plurality of slots, wherein: the first set of windings comprises a first three-phase set of windings; the second set of windings comprises a second three-phase set of windings; and the first three-phase set of windings and the second three-phase set of windings have an identical winding structure, each phase winding of the second three-phase set of windings occupying slots of the plurality of slots that are occupied by its corresponding phase winding of the first three-phase set of windings; an inverter module coupled between the energy source and the motor, the inverter module comprising: a first set of phase legs coupled to the first set of windings; and a second set of phase legs coupled to the second set of windings; and a controller coupled to the inverter module, the controller being configured to achieve a desired power flow between the energy source and the motor by: modulating the first set of phase legs using a first carrier signal; and modulating the second set of phase legs using the second carrier signal, the second carrier signal being phase-shifted relative to the first carrier signal.