LOW LOSS ACTIVE HIGH VOLTAGE POWER SWITCH

A vehicle propulsion system including a battery for supplying a direct current (DC), an inverter including a wide band gap transistor for converting the DC to an alternating current (AC) in response to a transistor control signal applied to a gate of the wide band gap transistor, a high voltage power switch coupled in anti-parallel with the wide band gap transistor to provide a path for the current when the wide band gap transistor is turned off, an inverter controller including a power supply for supplying a DC current, a current sensor for detecting a current level of the DC current, and a high voltage transistor for generating the transistor control signal in response to a variation of the current level and the DC current, and an electric motor configured to generate an electromotive torque in response to the AC voltage to propel a vehicle.