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BASICS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY AND A DESIGN STUDY ON A

SERIES HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE POWERTRAIN

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BASICS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY AND A DESIGN STUDY
ON A SERIES HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE POWERTRAIN
Okan Tur1 R. Nejat Tuncay2 Hamdi Ucarol1
e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]
1
TUBITAK Marmara Research Center Energy Institute, 41470 Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey
2
Mekatro R&D, TUBITAK MRC Technology Free Zone Section B No:18 41470 Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey

Key words: Series hybrid electric vehicle, electric vehicle design, simulation, power management

ABSTRACT Wheel

This paper starts with the basics of electric vehicle Ultra

=
Capacitor
technology and introduces design principles of series Bank =
Bi-directional DC Bus Bar
hybrid electric vehicle. A series hybrid electric vehicle DC/DC Converter

powertrain design study has been presented and a

=
previously developed MATLAB/Simulink model has been
Battery
Pack ~ M Differantial

used to simulate the designed vehicle in two drive cycles Motor Driver Traction
Motor
using a soft hybrid energy management strategy. Also Flywheel ~
performance simulations have been conducted for all =
Bi-directional
electric drive mode and results have been compared with DC/DC Converter

the measurements taken from an experimental vehicle. Electrical Mechanical

Wheel

Connection Connection

INTRODUCTION Figure 1. All Electric Vehicle Powertrain

It is known that electric vehicle (EV) technology has been
gaining importance at both military and commercial Any vehicle having two or more different type of power
vehicle systems for the last decades. Despite they have sources or drive system is called hybrid vehicle. Series
higher cost, their higher energy efficiency, lower hybrid electric vehicle (SHEV) is hybridization of power
emissions, regenerative braking and silent mode drive supply system [2]. At series hybrid configuration, an ICE-
capabilities are major advantages over conventional generator set is placed additional to all electric system
vehicles. Better performance of electric traction, (Figure 2). The generator set (genset) may act as electrical
suitability for future weapon systems, stealth mode, silent energy storage system state of charge (SOC) controller or
watch and reduced signature are some of the reasons for as the main power unit. When used as main power supply,
the growing interest on combat electric vehicles. it covers average power demands and the energy storage
system supplies peak loads. During deceleration or low
This paper introduces electric vehicle technologies and power drive, energy storage system is charged by
basic design principals of series hybrid architecture. regenerative braking or genset.
Performance of the designed vehicle is obtained using
previously developed simulation environment. Parallel hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is the
hybridization of drive system. In parallel hybrid electric
ELECTRIC VEHICLE CONFIGURATIONS vehicles, both ICE and electrical machine can propel the
Basically electric vehicle configurations can be classified vehicle. For example, at low speeds, electric machine
into three groups. They are, drives the car to use energy more efficiently. For better
• All electric vehicle performance at long distance travels, ICE operates for
• Series hybrid electric vehicle traction. Electric machine can also act as a generator to
• Parallel hybrid electric vehicle charge energy storage systems if torque demand can be
As shown in Figure 1, electric energy storage systems supplied by only ICE. One of the parallel-hybrid
such as battery, flywheel and supercapacitor can be used configurations is shown in Figure 3.
as power supply system in all electric vehicles. In this
configuration, the range of the vehicle is limited by the Beyond these two different hybrid configurations, as in
stored electrical energy. Today, this is the most important Toyota Prius example, some other drive concepts have
drawback of EVs as a result of the weight of energy been studied like dual hybrid vehicles, which have
storage systems. properties of both SHEV and PHEV.
 However, fuel cells have some serious disadvantages like
high manufacturing, hydrogen production and storage
costs. For today, usage of fuel cells as energy production
unit in commercial hybrid vehicles is not yet feasible.

On the other hand, conventional energy production

method, electric generator, takes mechanical energy and
produces electrical energy. Mechanical power source can
be a diesel engine, a gas fuel engine or a gas turbine. AC
induction or permanent magnet machines can be used as
Figure 2. Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle Powertrain
generator.
Motor
Generator Wheel
As mentioned before, the worst problem in front of
Battery =
Pack ~
MG
electric vehicle technology is the energy storage. Until
Power
Management
now, lead acid (PbA) batteries have sustained the
System
leadership despite their low specific energy and power
ratios. Reliability and ability to withstand rough
I.C.E.
conditions are some reasons for that. In addition,
Wheel

Mechanical
advanced PbA battery technologies like spiral wounded
Electrical
Connection Connection AGM (absorbent glass mat) or VRLA (Valve regulated
lead acid) batteries are able to provide higher specific
Figure 3. Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle Powertrain
power ratios up to 400 W/kg.
TECHNOLOGIC TRENDS ON SUBSYSTEMS
Table 1. Battery Comparison
Power system of an HEV consists of energy production Specific Energy Specific Cycle Life at
unit, energy storage system(s), electric machine(s) and Ratio (Wh/kg) Power Ratio %80 DOD
related power electronic circuits. (W/kg) (cycles)
PbA 30-45 150-400 300-550
NiMH 60-70 150-1300 800-1300
Present studies accept AC induction and permanent
Li-Ion 90-130 250-1400 500-1200
magnet synchronous machines as possible alternatives for
electric drive applications. Switch reluctance motors may
Studies on both nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and lithium
be another interesting alternative. DC machines are not
ion (Li-ion) batteries are going on. Higher specific energy
preferred anymore, as they need brush and commutator
and power ratios, better charge absorption during
maintenance.
regenerative braking and longer cycle life are some of the
promised attributes of these advanced technologies. In
Having robust construction, low production cost and low
commercial hybrid vehicles like Toyota Prius and Honda
maintenance requirement, induction machine has been
Insight, NiMH batteries are used.
common selection for experimental electric vehicles.
Modern control techniques like field-oriented control
Although some data has been given in Table 1, it should
properly provide necessary speed control function for
be noted that these parameters are only for indicative
induction machines.
purposes since the data may have wide variations among
different battery manufacturers and these data always
Permanent magnet synchronous machines have high
change with the advancement of battery technology.
efficiency, low-weight, high power density and high
speed possibilities. So far, in all commercial hybrid
As flywheels, mechanical energy storage system, have
electric vehicles, permanent magnet motors have been
high specific power ratio but low specific energy ratio,
used due to certain advantages defined above.
they cannot be used as main energy storage devices but
can be a good alternative for short-term peak power
Fuel cells are the most promising technology for power
demands. Another alternative for supplying peak loads is
generation, which convert the chemical energy of a fuel
super capacitor. However, these systems also bring cost
directly to electrical energy. When they take hydrogen as
and reliability issues.
fuel, they produce only heat and steam as emission.
Although there are several types of fuel cells, proton
POWERTRAIN DESIGN
exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) seems the most
As mentioned before, power system of SHEV consists of
promising choice for electric vehicle applications as it has
traction motor, power generation unit, energy storage
relatively small dimensions and low operation
system and associated power electronics.
temperature (50-100°C).
Choosing proper traction motor and its supply system are other way is that generator set covers the average load and
the main issues. Series hybrid electric vehicle power energy storage device supply short-term peak power.
system design starts with choosing the traction motor.
Vehicle specifications like weight, friction force, desired Table 2 Formula constants
nominal velocity, acceleration and gradability affect this Variable Description Unit Variable Description Unit
choice. The selected electric motor has to overcome m Total vehicle kg α Road slope °
mass
several forces, which are wheel friction force (Ft), air ct Wheel - cr Air friction -
friction force (Fr), slope friction force (Fe) and force due friction coefficient
to vehicle inertia (Fa). The required power from traction coefficient
motor is Pm = Ftotal.V. g Gravity 9.81 m/s2 δ Air density kg/
m3
Af Vehicle m2 V Vehicle m/s
Forces acting on to the vehicle; frontal area speed

Ft = ct.m.g.cosα (1) The proposed design activity is conducted on the series

Fe = m.g.sinα (2) hybrid electric vehicle power train architecture shown in
Fr = 0.5.cr.δ.Af.V2 (3) figure 4.
Fa = m.dV/dt (4)
Table 3 Vehicle constant
Ft, Fe and Fr are used to calculate the continuous power Constant Value Constant Value
requirement from electric motor and Fr is used to ct 0.01 cw 0.3
δ (km/m3) 1.17 Af (m2) 3.1
determine the additional power for acceleration. Total
nt % 90 rw (m) 0.325
power that should be transferred to the wheels is obtained mt (kg) 1600 g (m/s2) 9.81
by multiplying the total force(Ftot) and vehicle speed (8). GR 5.7276
Total wheel torque(Ttot) is the product of force and wheel
radius (9). Using equations given in (5) to (12), forces acting on the
vehicle were modeled and given in Figure 5. Using the
Fp = Ft + Fe + Fr (5) vehicle constants in Table 3, to be able to determine the
Fd = Fa (6) specifications of traction motor, input signals, speed and
Ftot = Fd + Fp (7) slope, were applied to the model and following power-
Ptot = Ftot . V (8) speed, torque-speed graphics were calculated.
Ttot = Ftot . r (9) 0 to 90 km/h acceleration in 25 seconds at straight road
input signals were applied to the model and power-motor
Reduction gear ratio and mechanical efficiency is also angular velocity and torque-motor angular velocity values
considered while selecting the traction motor were plotted. Pivme and Psabit show power requirement
specification. If direct drive is applied, transmission during acceleration and requirement at constant speed
efficiency (µteff) may also be omitted. drive respectively.
Power Wheel
Management
Pm = Ptot / µteff (10) System

wtire = V / r (11) Fuel

Tank
I.C.E G ~
=
Motor
Driver
Traction
Motor
wrotor = wtire . GR (12) Generator = Differantial
M
Tm = Pm / wr (13) DC Bus ~
Bar
Battery
Pack
Gradability target is one of the most important parameter
for the nominal torque requirement and maximum motor Electrical Mechanical
Wheel
connection connection
speed is one of the parameters determining the maximum
vehicle speed. Figure 4 Power train of series hybrid vehicle

Power supply system(Pss) of hybrid electric vehicle is

configured considering energy management strategy and
power requirement of consumers such as traction motor,
cooling system(Pc) and auxiliaries(Paux).

Pss = Pgenset + Pbat = Pm / µmeff + Pc + Paux (14)

Load sharing between power generation and energy

storage devices and total energy that should be stored are
influenced by the energy management system. Longer Figure 5 Vehicle load model
silent drive range requires higher energy storage. The
 Figure 6 Maximum speed power requirement
Figure 9 %10 slope load moment
In this context, battery pack should be able to supply at
least 60 kW. 300 V DC bus bar, which seems suitable for
power electronics at this power level, can be composed by
25 x 12 V lead acid batteries in series.

Capacity of the battery pack should be selected

considering both maximum current supply capability and
silent mode drive range of the vehicle. Selecting silent
Figure 7 Maximum speed load moment drive range as 150 km at 50 km/h constant speed,
analyzing the calculations conducted before, brings the
The same model was run for acceleration to 50 km/h in 25 requirement of 18 kWh total stored energy. Division of
seconds but this time at %10 slope and outputs were maximum discharge power to total capacity results in 3.3
plotted in figure 8 and figure 9. C discharge rate, which may be allowable for advanced
lead acid batteries.
The graphs show that for this vehicle an electric motor
having 250 Nm maximum torque at low speed (0-2000 Generator set should be able to supply recharging power
rpm) and 50-60 kW maximum power between 2000-5000 when the SOC decreases predefined ranges and also
rpm is needed. supply power for the traction at moderate speed drive.
Selecting 9 kW nominal recharge power as the half of
For SHEV, the electric power supply system design is a total capacity and taking 5 kW power requirement for 50
more complex problem then the drive system. Selected km/h drive into consideration, genset is selected at 15 kW
power management method influences the parts of it. power level.
There are two basic energy management strategy called
like soft hybrid and power assist [3, 4]. In the first one, In the soft hybrid energy management strategy, battery
battery pack may act as the main supplier and genset may pack SOC level is divided into various operating modes,
be used as the battery SOC controller. In the other method such as given in figure 9.
genset is the main supplier for average power requirement
and batteries are used for supplying peak loads. Regenerative Brake Limiting Range
%80
Battery Supply Range
%60
SOC

Transition Range
%40
Hybrid Operation Range
%20
Power Limitation Range

Operation Time
.

Figure 10 SOC operation bands

One wants to operate in the %20 - %80 SOC range. This

is mainly because of the high internal resistance of battery
Figure 8 %10 slope power requirement
pack behind those limits. So, above %80 SOC,
regenerative braking is simply omitted or limited to avoid
For this study, power management is selected as soft
over charge and below %20 SOC, power limitation for
hybrid. Battery pack can supply all required power from
traction is applied to avoid deep discharge. When SOC is
traction motor. When battery pack state of charge
in the %60-%80 range, required power is supplied only by
decreases under a certain limit, generator set starts to
battery pack till SOC decreases to %40. At this point,
supply electrical energy to recharge the battery pack.
genset starts to supply power to the dc bus until SOC
 reaches %60. While driving down hill battery pack may under 35 kW power supply limitation to compare the
increase upto %80. results with the real case. Figure 13 shows that vehicle
accelerates to 60 km/h in 13 seconds in the simulation
Designed vehicle has been simulated using previously mode. Experimental vehicle accelerated to the same speed
developed MATLAB/Simulink environment [1]. The first in 14.4 seconds.
drive cycle applied is Urban Dynamometer Drive
Schedule (UDDS) of USA federal test procedure FTP-75.
The second one is the US06 highway cycle of USA test
procedure.

In the urban drive cycle, only battery pack supplied the dc

bus and genset didn’t operate. At the end of 23 minute
drive cycle, vehicle traveled 12 km/h distance and the
battery SOC decreased %8. Seeing that the traction motor Figure 13 Acceleration to 60 km/h and power
power was usually under 20 kW, 15 kW generator set consumption
would be sufficient to keep battery SOC between the
required operation band. The simulation showed that power consumption at 50
In figure 11, urban drive simulation result has been given km/h is 5 kW. In the real case power consumption was
representing respectively drive cycle, battery pack measured as 5.9 kW. Reasons for the difference between
voltage, battery pack current and SOC. the simulation and real case are thought to be the
uncertain vehicle parameters and efficiency values used in
the model.

Figure 14 Power consumption at 50 km/h

Figure 11 UDDS cycle simulation results CONCLUSION

In this paper, basics of hybrid electric vehicle technology
In the high-speed drive cycle, after 25 km drive, battery
have been presented. Also a series hybrid electric
pack SOC decreases around %35 and dc bus bar voltage
powertrain design study has been conducted.
floats between 250 V - 360 V.
The designed vehicle has been simulated using previously
developed MATLAB/Simulink model.

LITERATURE
[1] TUR, O., Simulation of Hybrid Electric Vehicle
Power System, MSc. Thesis, Istanbul Technical
University, 2004
[2] Van den Bossche, P., Van Mierlo, J., Maggetto, G.,
“Energy Sources for Hybrid electric Vehicles:
Comparative Evaluation of The State of The Art”, AECV
conference, Noordwijkerhout/The NETHERLANDS,
2002
Figure 12 US06 drive cycle simulation results [3] Lee, Y.K., Jung, J.H., 2002, Optimal Power
COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE Distribution Strategy for Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle
SIMULATIONS AND REAL CASE Using Diesel Engine and Battery System, Electric Vehicle
For the pure electric mode drive, acceleration and Symposium 19, Busan/KOREA, October
constant speed power consumption simulations were [4] Barsali, S., Pasquali, M., Pede, G., 2002, Definition
conducted and the results were compared with an of an Energy Management Technique for Series Hybrid
experimental electric vehicle. Simulations were conducted Vehicles, Electric Vehicle Symposium 19,
Busan/KOREA, October 2002

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