Effects analysis of light-duty diesel truck hybrid conversion depending on driving style

Abstract

• Effects of hybrid conversion of a light-duty diesel truck are investigated. • The hybrid conversion improves the fuel economy by 24.3% on average. • The fuel economy benefit from hybrid conversion is dependent on driving style. • Adaptive control can make the HEV hardly dependent on average engine speed. • Visual feedback to the unaware driver can further improve the fuel economy by 13.3%. This study performs an effects analysis of the hybrid conversion of a light-duty diesel truck depending on driving style. The experimental route is extracted from real delivery routes, and multiple drivers drive the route several times before and after the conversion. The results confirm that the fuel economy is improved by 24.3% on average after the conversion, and the fuel economy before and after the conversion is most strongly dependent on average engine speed and regenerative braking ratio, respectively. This different dependence on the driving style parameters is analyzed in relation to the control strategy and powertrain of the converted truck. An additional experiment reveals that the fuel economy of the converted truck can be further improved by 13.3% when visual feedback is provided to the unaware driver for correcting driving styles. These findings can be utilized to improve the performance of hybrid electric vehicles for various driving styles.