Abstract
In the race to decrease the well-to-wheels fuel consumption and improve environmental stewardship, auto-makers and researchers worldwide have moved to electrify the vehicle powertrain for personal and public transportation. The Center for Research in Transportation Technologies at Makerere University is exploring electric vehicle transportation technology as a plausible solution to traffic issues in Uganda’s urban centers and cities. Electric vehicle transportation in Africa’s cities is a practical solution due to the fact that most of these cities are on a relatively small area; distances involved are small. This paper presents the technical, operational and functional aspects that were considered in the design of the KAYOOLA Electric City Bus, which has a drive cycle that suits the public transport system in Kampala City in Uganda. Since Battery Electric Vehicles have specific on-board energy, the powertrain for the KAYOOLA electric city bus was designed following the specific road-load requirements of typical city drive cycle from data obtained from actual road measurements in Kampala city. For range extension, On-board solar charging is incorporated. To accurately predict performance, Autonomie-Modeling and simulation tool kit for light and heavy duty vehicles developed by Argonne National Laboratory was used to model and simulate the entire powertrain, noting effects of the grades, range, speed and drive cycles on the battery SOC and voltage. Design iterations are made to meet performance targets. This approach was employed to reduce time between concept development and prototyping while maximizing efficiency. The results shall inform the integration of key powertrain technologies into the KAYOOLA Electric City Bus.
Highlights
The successful completion of KIIRA EV [1] prototype in November 2011 by the Center for Research in Transportation Technologies (CRTT) at Makerere University paved the way for the development of an Electric City Bus, the KAYOOLA (Fig. 1)
To meet the all-electric range (AER) requirements, the battery is sized to follow specific driving cycle [10].Though standard Environmental Protection agency (EPA) drive cycles based on the Kansas city drive tests were used, a specific Kampala drive cycle was developed as a means of testing the extent to which the developed concept satisfies the road conditions in Kampala city
This paper has presented a simulation of a powertrain model of a public transportation bus powertrain for Kampala city in Uganda
Summary
The successful completion of KIIRA EV [1] prototype in November 2011 by the Center for Research in Transportation Technologies (CRTT) at Makerere University paved the way for the development of an Electric City Bus, the KAYOOLA (Fig. 1). The Case Study Kampala, is a city located on seven hills; Rubaga, Namirembe, Makerere, Kololo, Kibuli, Kampala, and Mulago. This presents a unique road-load requirement for the bus in terms of gradeability, speed, range and drive cycle. This was the motivation for the implementation of a custom powertrain pulling market tested EV technology. The subsequent sections of this paper present a synopsis of the vehicle technical definition, drive cycle requirements, the component sizing process, the vehicle propulsion architecture, vehicle level control strategy and analysis of the simulation results
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