Drivability Optimization of Electric Vehicle Drivetrains for Brake Blending Maneuvers

Abstract

Electric vehicle drivetrains are considered a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road traffic. The use of electric drives in automotive vehicles offers advantages, such as the potential to recover energy during braking (regenerative braking). The limitation of the maximum air gap torque of the vehicle drive machine by several factors requires a temporary standalone or simultaneous use of the conventional vehicle wheel brake. In several studies, it is shown that during braking operations, the drive machine and the vehicle wheel brake can induce torsional oscillations in the drivetrain, which have a negative influence on the driving comfort and lead to a high mechanical load. To reduce these oscillations, the simultaneous use of an active anti-jerk control is necessary. Due to the problem of oscillation excitations caused by a brake intervention, the used drivability function (integrated prefilter, anti-jerk control) is investigated and optimized with regard to brake blending maneuvers and the effectiveness for damping torsional oscillations. Therefore, the dynamics of the drivetrain are adapted to the dynamics of the braking system using the prefilter, which leads to precise fulfilment of the driver’s braking desire, even during dynamic brake blending maneuvers. All investigations are carried out with a hardware-in-the-loop test bench to create reproducible results.