Energy Management Control of a Hybrid Electric Vehicle by Incorporating Powertrain Dynamics

Abstract

Energy management strategies in parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) usually ignore effects of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) dynamics and rely on static maps for required engine torque-fuel efficiency data. It is uncertain how neglecting these dynamics can affect fuel economy of a parallel HEV. This paper addresses this shortcoming by investigating effects of some major Spark Ignition (SI) engine dynamics and clutch dynamics on torque split management in a parallel HEV. The control strategy is implemented on a HEV model with an experimentally validated, dynamic ICE model. Simulation results show that the ICE and clutch dynamics can degrade performance of the HEV control strategy during the transient periods of the vehicle operation by 8.7% for city and highway driving conditions in a combined common North American drive cycle. This fuel penalty is often overlooked in conventional HEV energy management strategies. A Model Predictive Control (MPC) of torque split is developed by incorporating effects of the studied influencing dynamics. Results show that the integrated energy management strategy can improve the total energy consumption of HEV by more than 6% for combined Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule (UDDS) and Highway Fuel Economy Driving Schedule (HWFET)drive cycles.