Holistic testing strategies for electrified vehicle powertrains in product development process

Abstract

In the field of powertrain engineering, longstanding knowledge was gained for testing conventional vehicle powertrains. The hitherto used test strategies here were more focused on the subsystems of the powertrain than on the powertrain as an integrated system. Through the electrification of the powertrain, the topology and the range of functions have changed. This leads to new challenges for the validation and requires not only adjustments of the test strategies for electric vehicle powertrains but establish and develop integrative tests for the powertrain as an integrated system in order to meet the increased complexity. This paper presents a method to develop a holistic test strategy for a hybrid and electrical vehicle powertrain. In order to avoid misunderstandings of the used terms, it is necessary to create a standard understanding of them. Therefore, a nomenclature is defined and described. Furthermore, a definition of a holistic test strategy is provided. The focus of this present study is on the powertrain and not on its single subsystems. Subsequently, the four steps of the method are introduced and the current results are presented. Finally, a new developed test element within the holistic test strategy is introduced. The findings of this study support the integrative testing for powertrains.