Performance Analysis of Electric Vehicles with a Fuel Cell–Supercapacitor Hybrid System

Abstract

This paper presents a new methodology to evaluate the performance of an electric vehicle hybrid power system consisting of a fuel cell and a supercapacitor. The study compares the results to those obtained for a battery electric vehicle. The methodology extends to three driving modes, ECO, NORMAL, and SPORT, corresponding to conservative, moderate, and aggressive acceleration, and three driving conditions, low, medium, and high energy demand. We develop a simulation process to evaluate the energy consumption and the energy rate of a specific electric vehicle used as a prototype for the study. The methodology applies to a driving route that includes acceleration, deceleration, braking, and constant speed segments, reproducing standard driving conditions in urban journeys. The proposed method considers combined driving modes, ECO, NORMAL, and SPORT, in each acceleration process, with variable fractions, from 0% to 100%, for each mode. This methodology optimizes the simulation results for the current driving patterns in urban environments. The simulation results show an average reduction in energy consumption of 37% and 27.1% in vehicle weight, contributing to lower energy use. The study concludes that using a hybrid power system, a fuel cell/supercapacitor, instead of a battery in electric vehicles is beneficial, especially in journeys with frequent acceleration processes.