Abstract
Fuel cells and high energy density batteries have limited overrated capacity and slow power response. Ultracapacitors and flywheels are proposed to overcome these limitations and to facilitate regenerative braking in hybrid and electric vehicles. The simulations presented in this paper show that a Secondary Energy Storage Unit (SESU) enhances the performance of the drivelines as previously suggested and provides additional improvements. A combined design of the primary energy source and the SESU reduces the total weight and volume and increases the battery lifetime. A full-electric driveline is simulated using a standard EPA FTP-75 drive cycle. Then the same vehicle is simulated with as SESU and the results are compared. The same is done for a hybrid driveline. Two drivelines are used as references and then enhanced with an SESU; four simulations are presented in total. Simulation results show that an energy storage device with very low energy and high power allows better battery selection and energy management.
Highlights
Research in electric vehicles has a long history full of success and disappointment
Different forecasts agree that the price of future electric cars will be at least $5,000 higher than conventional petrol cars even with scale economies [3]
This paper argues that Secondary Energy Storage Unit (SESU) have a positive economic potential when the complete driveline is evaluated
Summary
Research in electric vehicles has a long history full of success and disappointment. There are great expectations that are fulfilled only recently with the latest developments in batteries. Batteries are the most challenging component of the electric car. Electric cars have less range than gasoline as batteries become very heavy. The Tesla Model S is the commercial electric car with higher range up to 480 km (300 miles) and the battery alone weighs 600 kg [2]. The energy storage of an SESU is made of ultracapacitors, flywheels, or high power density batteries. Batteries are devices that convert chemical energy into electricity and they are limited by chemical thermodynamic and kinetic means. There are batteries with different chemical components and structures. Some have high power density and some have high energy density, but there are no batteries which can excel in both properties. Most systems are designed with one type of batteries, but the combination of different batteries to achieve the best of both should be considered
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