Impact of real world drive cycles on PHEV fuel efficiency and cost for different powertrain and battery characteristics

Abstract

For the past couple of years, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) demonstrated their ability to significantly reduce petroleum consumptions. However, more than any other vehicle powertrain, their benefits are dependent on the driving cycles from both an aggressiveness and distance point of view. In this paper, two powertrain configurations will be defined. A power split configuration will be used for low battery energy and a series configuration for high battery energy. For each vehicle we will evaluate several control strategies, including electrical dominant and blended, on real world drive cycles. A conventional vehicle will be defined to use as a baseline. The trade-off between fuel displacement and cost will be evaluated for each option. © 2009 AVERE.