Design of hybrid drive train

• A hybrid-electric vehicle indicates that one source of power is

provided by an electric motor. The other source of motive power can
come from a number of different technologies
• Based on this general definition, there are many types of HEVs, such
as:
• the gasoline ICE and battery
• diesel ICE and battery
• battery and FC
• battery and capacitor
• battery and flywheel
• battery and battery hybrids.
• Most commonly, the propulsion force in HEV is provided by a
combination of electric motor and an ICE.
• The electric motor is used to improve the energy efficiency (improves
fuel consumption) and vehicular emissions while the ICE provides
extended range capability
Energy Use in Conventional Vehicles
• In order to understand how a HEV may save energy, it is necessary
first to examine how conventional vehicles use energy.
• The breakdown of energy use in a vehicle is as follows:
• In order to maintain movement, vehicles must produce power at the
wheels to overcome:
• a. aerodynamic drag (air friction on the body surfaces of the vehicle,
coupled with pressure forces caused by the air flow)
• b. rolling resistance (the resistive forces between tires and the road
surface)
• c. resistive gravity forces associated with climbing a grade
• Further, to accelerate, the vehicle must its inertia.
• Most of the energy expended in acceleration is then lost as heat in
the brakes when the vehicle is brought to a stop.
• The vehicle must provide power for accessories such as heating fan,
lights, power steering, and air conditioning.
• Finally, a vehicle will need to be capable of delivering power for
acceleration with very little delay when the driver depresses the
accelerator, which may necessitate keeping the power source in a
standby (energy-using) mode.
• A conventional engine-driven vehicle uses its engine to translate fuel
energy into shaft power, directing most of this power through the
drivetrain to turn the wheels.
• Much of the heat generated by combustion cannot be used for work
and is wasted, both because heat engines have theoretical efficiency
limit.
• Moreover, it is impossible to reach the theoretical efficiency limit
because:
• some heat is lost through cylinder walls before it can do work
• some fuel is burned at less than the highest possible pressure
• fuel is also burned while the engine is experiencing negative load
(during braking) or when the vehicle is coasting or at a stop, with the
engine idling.
• Although part of engine losses would occur under any circumstances,
part occurs because in conventional drivetrains, engines are sized to
provide very high levels of peak power for the acceleration capability
expected by consumers, about 10 times the power required to cruise
at 100Km/h.
• However, the engines are operated at most times at a small fraction
of peak power and at these operating points they are quite
inefficient.
• Having such a large engine also increases the amount of fuel needed
to keep the engine operating when the vehicle is stopped or during
braking or coasting, and increases losses due to the added weight of
the engine, which increases rolling resistance and inertial losses.
• Even gradeability requirements (example: 55 mph up a 6.5% grade)
require only about 60 or 70% of the power needed to accelerate from
0 to 100Km/h in under 12 seconds.
• The Figure 1 shows the translation of fuel energy into work at the wheels
for a typical mid size vehicle in urban and highway driving.
• From Figure 1 it can be observed that:
• At best, only 20% of the fuel energy reaches the wheels and is available to
overcome the tractive forces, and this is on the highway when idling losses
are at a minimum, braking loss is infrequent, and shifting is far less
frequent.
• Braking and idling losses are extremely high in urban driving and even
higher in more congested driving, e.g., within urban cores during rush hour.
• Braking loss represents 46% of all tractive losses in urban driving.
• Idling losses represent about one sixth of the fuel energy on this cycle.
• Losses to aerodynamic drag, a fifth or less of tractive losses in urban
driving, are more than half of the tractive losses during highway driving.
Figure 1:Translation of fuel energy into work in a vehicle
Energy Savings Potential of Hybrid Drivetrains

• In terms of overall energy efficiency, the conceptual advantages of a

hybrid over a conventional vehicle are:
• Regenerative braking. A hybrid can capture some of the energy
normally lost as heat to the mechanical brakes by using its electric
drive motor(s) in generator mode to brake the vehicle
• More efficient operation of the ICE, including reduction of idle.
• A hybrid can avoid some of the energy losses associated with engine
operation at speed and load combinations where the engine is inefficient
by using the energy storage device to either absorb part of the ICE’s output
or augment it or even substitute for it.
• This allows the ICE to operate only at speeds and loads where it is most
efficient.
• When an HEV is stopped, rather than running the engine at idle, where it is
extremely inefficient, the control system may either shut off the engine,
with the storage device providing auxiliary power (for heating or cooling
the vehicle interior, powering headlights, etc.), or run the engine at a
higher-than-idle (more efficient) power setting and use the excess power
(over auxiliary loads) to recharge the storage device.
• When the vehicle control system can shut the engine off at idle, the
drivetrain can be designed so that the drive motor also serves as the
starter motor, allowing extremely rapid restart due to the motor’s high
starting torque.
• Smaller ICE: Since the storage device can take up a part of the load,
the HEV’s ICE can be down sized. The ICE may be sized for the
continuous load and not for the very high short term acceleration load.
This enables the ICE to operate at a higher fraction of its rated power,
generally at higher fuel efficiency, during most of the driving.
• In series HEV
• A. ICE engine is providing full power to wheels
• B. Electric Motor provide half propulsion power to wheels
• C. Both ICE engine and electric motor provides propulsion power to
wheels
• D. Downsized ICE engine are used to drive generator
• Advantage of series HEV is
• A. Flexibility of location of engine generator set
• B. Simplicity of drive train
• C. Suitable for short trips with stop and go traffic
• D. All of the above
• There are counterbalancing factors reducing hybrids’ energy
advantage, including:
• Potential for higher weight. Although the fuel-driven energy source
on a hybrid generally will be of lower power and weight than the
engine in a conventional vehicle of similar performance, total hybrid
weight is likely to be higher than the conventional vehicle it replaces
because of the added weight of the storage device, electric motor(s),
and other components.
• This depends, of course, on the storage mechanism chosen, the vehicle
performance requirements, and so forth.
• Electrical losses. Although individual electric drivetrain components
tend to be quite efficient for one-way energy flows, in many hybrid
configurations, electricity flows back and forth through components in
a way that leads to cascading losses.
• Further, some of the components may be forced to operate under
conditions where they have reduced efficiency.
• For example, like ICEs, most electric motors have lower efficiency at
the low-speed, low-load conditions often encountered in city driving.
• Without careful component selection and a control strategy that
minimizes electric losses, much of the theoretical efficiency advantage
often associated with an electric drivetrain can be lost.
• HEV Configurations
• In Figure 2 the generic concept of a hybrid drivetrain and possible energy
flow route is shown. The various possible ways of combining the power
flow to meet the driving requirements are:
• i. powertrain 1 alone delivers power
• ii. powertrain 2 alone delivers power
• iii. both powertrain 1 and 2 deliver power to load at the same time
• iv. powertrain 2 obtains power from load (regenerative braking)
• v. powertrain 2 obtains power from powertrain 1
• vi. powertrain 2 obtains power from powertrain 1 and load at the same time
• vii. powertrain 1 delivers power simultaneously to load and to powertrain 2
• viii. powertrain 1 delivers power to powertrain 2 and powertrain 2 delivers
power ton load
• ix. powertrain 1 delivers power to load and load delivers power to
powertrain 2.
Figure 2:Generic Hybrid Drivetrain
• The load power of a vehicle varies randomly in actual operation due
to frequent acceleration, deceleration and climbing up and down the
grades.
• The power requirement for a typical driving scenario is shown in
Figure 3.
• The load power can be decomposed into two parts:
• i. steady power, i.e. the power with a constant value
• ii. dynamic power, i.e. the power whose average value is zero
• In HEV one powertrain favours steady state operation, such as an ICE
or fuel cell.
• The other powertrain in the HEV is used to supply the dynamic power.
• The total energy output from the dynamic powertrain will be zero in
the whole driving cycle.
• Generally, electric motors are used to meet the dynamic power
demand.
• This hybrid drivetrain concept can be implemented by different
configurations as follows:
• Series configuration
• Parallel configuration
• Series-parallel configuration
• Complex configuration
• In Figure 4 the functional block diagrams of the various HEV
configurations is shown.
• From Figure 4 it can be observed that the key feature of:
• series hybrid is to couple the ICE with the generator to produce
electricity for pure electric propulsion.
• parallel hybrid is to couple both the ICE and electric motor with the
transmission via the same drive shaft to propel the vehicle
• Series Hybrid System: In case of series hybrid system (Figure 4a) the
mechanical output is first converted into electricity using a generator.
• The converted electricity either charges the battery or can bypass the
battery to propel the wheels via the motor and mechanical
transmission.
• Conceptually, it is an ICE assisted Electric Vehicle (EV).
• The advantages of series hybrid drivetrains are:
• mechanical decoupling between the ICE and driven wheels allows
the IC engine operating at its very narrow optimal region as shown in
Figure 5.
• nearly ideal torque-speed characteristics of electric motor make
multigear transmission unnecessary.
• However, a series hybrid drivetrain has the following disadvantages:
• the energy is converted twice (mechanical to electrical and then to
mechanical) and this reduces the overall efficiency.
• Two electric machines are needed and a big traction motor is
required because it is the only torque source of the driven wheels.

• The series hybrid drivetrain is used in heavy commercial vehicles,

military vehicles and buses. The reason is that large vehicles have
enough space for the bulky engine/generator system.
• The power with constant value is called
• A. Dynamic Power
• B. Steady state Power
• C. Transient Power
• D. Instantaneous Power