Electric Passenger Vehicles Research Articles

Fast Adaptive Evolutionary PM Traction Motor Optimization Based on Electric Vehicle Drive Cycle

This paper introduces an evolutionary optimization procedure for the design of permanent-magnet motors (PMMs) for electric vehicle (EV) applications, considering a specific drive cycle with multiple operating points. For the purposes of the analysis, the New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) has been employed with two alternative PMM configurations. Energy distribution over the NEDC for a small passenger's EV has been calculated and the equivalent multiple operating points have been extracted, using appropriate weights, in order to maintain an equal energy consumption basis, resulting in reduced computational cost. The proposed optimization technique is constituted of an adaptive differential evolution (DE) algorithm involving dynamic variation of the mutation factor, combined with finite-element (FE) and circuit models. The procedure is based on the precise calculation of the two axes input current components for each candidate solution and operating condition. The methodology introduced presents stable and fast convergence characteristics and has been applied to optimize the geometry of both surface-mounted and interior PMM configurations. The proposed motor is based on the thorough tradeoff among the two alternative optimized geometries and has been validated through measurements on a prototype.

Electric Fuel Pumps for Wireless Power Transfer: Enabling rapid growth in the electric vehicle market

This article discusses recent improvements in wireless power transmission (WPT) technologies as applied to the charging of electric vehicles (EVs). Emphasis is placed on the commercial potential of this new technology and how it can enable rapid growth of the EV market, primarily by using automatic operation to achieve driving range extension. Unlike plug-in charging, wireless charging is profoundly disruptive, as it can displace the current fueling paradigms of petroleum fuel dispensing and manual plug-in EV charging. The combination of new long-range (> 200-mi) passenger EVs coupled with highpower automatic opportunity charging provides an effectively unlimited range for most drivers. This article discusses these commercial advantages in the context of a better understanding and best practices with respect to inductive charging systems and near-field resonant magnetic induction science, standards development, safety, autonomous vehicles systems integration, and communications systems.

Power Up with 800-V Systems: The benefits of upgrading voltage power for battery-electric passenger vehicles

In a battery-electric vehicle, the powertrain and different auxiliary components are powered by a high-voltage (HV) battery. Most of today's battery-electric vehicles use battery configurations, resulting in the 150-450-Vdc link voltage range, and this highvoltage configuration is often called the 400-V system. In contrast, in electrified truck and construction vehicles, the maximum dc link voltage can reach 870 V, and this configuration is often called the 800-V system. Currently, there are several high-end electric passenger vehicles under development utilizing the 800-V system. This article discusses the benefits and challenges of using the 800-V system in passenger vehicles. For example, the availability of the automotive qualified components for the 800-V system is limited. Therefore, automotive original-equipment manufacturers must assume additional development effort, time, and cost impact when applying the 800-V system to passenger vehicles.

Some less-discussed externalities of contemporary electric vehicle mania in Canada

Electric passenger vehicles are generally recognized to be the best-practicable alternative to gasoline-powered passenger vehicles, in the mitigation of greenhouse emission in the transportation sector of economically-developed countries. Energy stored in rechargeable batteries is the source of power for the operation of electric vehicles. The notable deterrents to the expanded implementation of the electric-vehicle strategy would include the adequacy of incremental and/or new power supply for recharging batteries, and fiscal implications for governments. In the 2012 reference year, the net outcome of re-deploying all power exported from British Columbia (Canada) to the USA for use by domestic electric vehicles would provide a conversion of ∼47% of registered passenger motor vehicles. But this approach would increase the greenhouse gas emission by ∼20 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually, on the basis of increased CO2 emission in the USA account. The export cessation would necessitate US electric utilities to increase their power generating capacity to make up for the shortfall in imports. The switchover to electric vehicles is projected to effect a revenue loss of ∼C$600 million for the Government of British Columbia in the 2012 reference year.

Steady state and start-up performance characteristics of air source heat pump for cabin heating in an electric passenger vehicle

The heating COP and capacity for evaluating the steady state performance and the transient temperature for evaluating the cabin heating performance of an automotive air source heat pump system were investigated under various experimental conditions for an electric vehicle. To optimize refrigerant charge amount of tested heat pump system, the system was investigated under cooling modes and it was determined by 650 g. The optimum EEV openings of heating modes were suggested with reasonable super-heating and heating capacity along with the ambient temperature. The heating COP and capacity were 3.26 and 3.10 kW at an outdoor temperature of −10 °C. The observed heating and transient performance of the automotive air source heat pump system mean it could be inferior to cabin heating load of electric passenger vehicles. Therefore, a hybrid heating method was suggested as a possible option for realization of longer driving ranges and thermal comfort for passengers.

Perspectives of electric mobility: Total cost of ownership of electric vehicles in Germany

The transport sector is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide as well as in Germany and is therefore able to contribute significantly to the achievement of climate protection goals. With this in mind and the steadily increasing electricity generation from renewable energy sources in Germany, electrically driven vehicles can be an attractive option to reach the climate targets of the EU and the German government. The target of the German government to have at least one million electric vehicles registered by 2020 seems currently far from realisation. For this reason, this article analyses the total cost of ownership (TCO) of electric passenger vehicles in Germany on a component-based approach and gives an estimation about the further development until 2050. To represent the German market, we investigate different vehicle sizes, user types and drive technologies. Furthermore, we show the CO2 abatement potential offered by different types of electric vehicles. Finally, we analyse buyer's premiums as an incentive to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles on German roads.In result, even without governmental subsidies, full and mild hybrid electric vehicles are already an economic option for a wide range of vehicle sizes and user types. To achieve nowadays cost competitiveness for full electric vehicle powertrains, considerable buyer's premiums are necessary. For plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles, the premiums range from about 8,600 to 32,400 EUR2010/vehicle depending on the vehicle size and user type. Eventually, following the future cost estimations, full electric vehicles can reach economic viability from 2030 onwards for many of the investigated vehicles and users.

Life-cycle tradeoffs of plug-ins

Electric Vehicles![Figure][1] Roger Wallace in his electric car, 1899. PHOTO: © HERITAGE IMAGE PARTNERSHIP LTD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO Shifting to electric passenger vehicles ideally will reduce the carbon footprint of the transportation sector. Two recent studies, however, show that the greenhouse gas emissions produced over the life cycle of electric vehicles, from production through use, may not always be less than those of gasoline-burning vehicles. Ellingsen et al. reveal that vehicle and battery size prohibit some larger electric vehicles from ever overcoming the high greenhouse gas emissions generated during production. Yuksel et al. show that regional factors in the United States such as electrical grid mix, temperature, and driving conditions strongly limit the potential of plug-in electric vehicles to out-perform high-efficiency gas vehicles. Blanket policies directed at the adoption of electric vehicles therefore could potentially fail to reduce the transportation sector's large carbon footprint. Environ. Res. Lett. 11, 054010, 044007 (2016). [1]: pending:yes

A comprehensive optimized model for on-board solar photovoltaic system for plug-in electric vehicles: energy and economic impacts

Summary Environmental concerns along with high energy demand in transportation are leading to major development in sustainable transportation technologies, not the least of which is the utilization of clean energy sources. Solar energy as an auxiliary power source of on-board fuel has not been extensively investigated. This study focuses on the energy and economic aspects of optimizing and hybridizing, the conventional energy path of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) using solar energy by means of on-board photovoltaic (PV) system as an auxiliary fuel source. This study is novel in that the authors (i) modeled the comprehensive on-board PV system for plug-in EV; (ii) optimized various design parameters for optimum well-to-tank efficiency (solar energy to battery bank); (iii) estimated hybrid solar plug-in EVs energy generation and consumption, as well as pure solar PV daily range extender; and (iv) estimated the economic return of investment (ROI) value of adding on-board PVs for plug-in EVs under different cost scenarios, driving locations, and vehicle specifications. For this study, two months in two US cities were selected, which represent the extremities in terms of available solar energy; June in Phoenix, Arizona and December in Boston, Massachusetts to represent the driving conditions in all the US states at any time followed by assessment of the results worldwide. The results show that, by adding on-board PVs to cover less than 50% (around 3.2 m2) of the projected horizontal surface area of a typical passenger EV, the daily driving range could be extended from 3.0 miles to 62.5 miles by solar energy based on vehicle specifications, locations, season, and total time the EV remains at Sun. In addition, the ROI of adding PVs on-board with EV over its lifetime shows only small negative values (larger than −45%) when the price of electricity remains below $0.18/kWh and the vehicle is driven in low-solar energy area (e.g. Massachusetts in the US and majority of Europe countries). The ROI is more than 148% if the vehicle is driven in high-solar energy area (e.g. Arizona in the US, most Africa countries, Middle East, and Mumbai in India), even if the electricity price remains low. For high electricity price regions ($0.35/kWh), the ROI is positive and high under all driving scenarios (above 560%). Also, the reported system has the potential to reduce electricity consumption from grid by around 4.5 to 21.0 MWh per EV lifetime. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out, in order to study the impacts of the car parked in the shade on the results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Materials Research, Super Batteries, and the Technopolitics of Electric Automobility

The protracted commercialization of battery electric passenger vehicles is often ascribed to the failure of the automobile industry to embrace the latest power sources. In this article, I argue that the pace of progress in this context was instead dictated largely by the ways researchers constructed metrics of power source performance. Such processes can in turn be seen as issuing from the conflicting agendas of academic, industrial, and state research. Knowledge of advanced power sources historically tended to be generated not in the automobile industry but in the research laboratories of allied industries and especially in state-funded academic networks. Notable in this regard was materials science and engineering, which exerted an important epistemic influence on advanced power source and electric vehicle research and development. Materials researchers tended to select compounds for reactivity rather than safety and durability, giving rise to the idea of a super battery and leading them and others to treat power sources as essentially materials rather than parts of complex technological systems. This way of thinking prevented technologists from appreciating the physical limits of power sources in real-world applications, setting up crises of expectation at later stages of electric automobile research and development. In the gap between basic research and the exigencies of industrial technoscience, the imagined super-battery electric vehicle came to be mobilized for ends consonant with multiple entrenched interests.

Shared steering control between a human and an automation designed for low curvature road

In order to facilitate driving and prevent accidents due to lane departure, this paper focuses on the development of an assistance device for lane keeping of a passenger electric vehicle. The goal is to develop a shared control mode based on the anticipation of risk and the prediction of the most probable actions of the driver. The paper is mainly articulated around two axes: the cybernetic modelling of the driver in his task of lateral control of the vehicle and the design of a shared steering control using a Driver-Vehicle-Road (DVR) model. Since many vehicle/road interaction factors (such as road adhesion, aerodynamic forces) and actuator dynamics are very poorly known, the proposed work addresses shared control resulting from applying the linear-quadratic control (LQR) synthesis to the global model (DVR). Innovative criteria were used for assessing the time to lane crossing, the level of sharing between the driver and lateral assistance, as well as their cooperative or conflicting behaviour. All simulation tests are carried out on a 5.8 km track that has several pretty tight radius turns (up to 150 m). The implementation of LQR controller has been made for a longitudinal speed set at 75 km/h. The LQR is sufficient to keep the vehicle under control on a road with low radius curvature. Preliminary simulation results in MATLAB/Simulink are presented to explain the concept.

IMPACT OF PENETRATION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES ON INDIAN POWER GRID

The research on impacts of electric vehicles on Indian power grid is motivated to enhance development of electric vehicle in India against the burning issues of rising fuel demand and the nation’s dependency on other countries for fuel which largely affects the GDP of nation. India has declared E-mobility mission plan to deploy 4,00,000 passenger electric vehicles by 2020. If this target is achieved India can avoid importing 120 million barrels of oil and avoid 4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2020. In future, as demand of electric vehicles increases, charging issues while connecting electric vehicle to grid also increases. This paper presents various aspects in terms of challenges and issues when electric vehicle is charged from grid and also the benefits, potential services and applications of electric vehicle in V2G mode. Effect of electric vehicle penetration on distribution grid is carried out in matlab simulink environment to observe effects on different electrical parameters like dc bus voltage, current, active power, reactive power, harmonics and power factor. Concept of vector control technique for voltage source converter is developed for stabilizing grid against penetration of electric vehicle. Control technique implemented here gives fast dynamic response, reduces harmonics and improves power factor with constant dc bus voltage. Concept shown here will be very useful for fast dc charging of electric vehicle batteries. Battery modelling described with the concept of extracting parameters from manufacturers discharge characteristics gives fast and effective solution and will be useful for not only Li-Ion batteries but also for Ni-Mh and Lead-acid batteries.

Research on Life Cycle Energy Consumption and Environmental Emissions of Light-Duty Battery Electric Vehicles

Based on producing and manufacturing process of key components, a light-duty battery electric passenger vehicle was selected as a research object, and the energy consumption and environmental emissions from raw materials production, electric vehicle manufacture and operation process in depth were analyzed. The results showed that, the energy consumption for the whole life cycle of EV was 438GJ. The production and operation process of EV accounted for 18.5% and 81.5%, respectively. The GHGs (including CO2, CH4and N2O) emission was 39.3tCO2-eq. The production and operation processed of EV account for 17% and 83%, respectively. Five kinds of other gases emissions from the production and operation process of EV were as follows: 305kg SOx, 206kg NOx, 133kg PM, 69.3kg CO, and 14.6kg NMVOCs. The production and manufacture of key parts and components account for the largest share of the total energy consumption and environmental emissions. Battery system is in the next place, while motor system is least.

The environmental performance of current and future passenger vehicles: Life cycle assessment based on a novel scenario analysis framework

This paper contains an evaluation of the environmental performance of a comprehensive set of current and future mid-size passenger vehicles. We present a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based on a novel integrated vehicle simulation framework, which allows for consistency in vehicle parameter settings and consideration of future technological progress. Conventional and hybrid gasoline, diesel and natural gas cars as well as battery and fuel cell electric vehicles (BEV and FCV) are analyzed, taking into account electricity and hydrogen production chains from fossil, nuclear and renewable energy resources.Our results show that a substantial mitigation of climate change can be obtained with electric passenger vehicles, provided that non-fossil energy resources are used for electricity and hydrogen production. However, in terms of other environmental burdens such as acidification, particulate matter formation, and toxicity, BEV may in some cases and FCV are likely to perform worse than modern fossil fueled cars as a consequence of emissions along vehicle and fuel production chains. Therefore, the electrification of road transportation should be accompanied by an integration of life cycle management in vehicle manufacturing chains as well as energy and transport policies in order to counter potential environmental drawbacks.

A High-Torque Magnetless Axial-Flux Doubly Salient Machine for In-Wheel Direct Drive Applications

In this paper, the concept of dc-field excitation is newly incorporated into the axial-flux doubly salient (AF-DS) machine, leading to create the new magnetless AF-DSDC machine. With the external field excitation, the proposed machine not only can enjoy its improved torque density, but also the flux-weakening capability for the wide-speed range operation. With these characteristics, the AF-DSDC is favorable for the in-wheel direct drive application. In particular, the proposed machine is designed and compared based on the requirement of a typical passenger electric vehicle. To have a better illustration, a radial-flux DSDC machine is also designed under the fair environment. The corresponding performances of both machines are analyzed by using the 2-D and 3-D finite element method.

Electric passenger car transport and passenger car life cycle inventories in ecoinvent version 3

PurposeDue to the large environmental challenges posed by the transport sector, reliable and state-of-the art data for its life cycle assessment is essential for enabling a successful transition towards more sustainable systems. In this paper, the new electric passenger car transport and vehicle datasets, which have been developed for ecoinvent version 3, are presented.MethodsThe new datasets have been developed with a strong modular approach, defining a hierarchy of datasets corresponding to various technical components in the vehicle. A vehicle is therefore modelled by linking together the various component datasets. Also, parameters and mathematical formulas have been introduced in order to define the amount of exchanges in the datasets through common transport and vehicle characteristics. This supports users in the choice of the amount of exchanges and enhances the transparency of the dataset.ResultsThe new transport dataset describes the transport over 1 km with a battery electric passenger car taking into account the vehicle production and end of life, the energy consumption due to the use phase, non-exhaust emissions, maintenance and road infrastructure. The dataset has been developed and is suitable for a compact class vehicle.ConclusionsA new electric passenger car transport dataset has been developed for version 3 of the ecoinvent database which exploits modularisation and parameters with the aim of facilitating users in adapting the data to their specific needs. Apart from the direct use of the transport dataset for background data, the various datasets for the different components can also be used as building blocks for virtual vehicles.

Comparing the Mass, Energy, and Cost Effects of Lightweighting in Conventional and Electric Passenger Vehicles

In this work the effect of weight reduction using advanced lightweight materials on the mass, energy use, and cost of conventional and battery electric passenger vehicles is compared. Analytic vehicle simulation is coupled with cost assessment to find the optimal degree of weight reduction minimizing manufacturing and total costs. The results show a strong secondary weight and cost saving potential for the battery electric vehicles, but a higher sensitivity of vehicle energy use to mass reduction for the conventional vehicle. Generally, light weighting has the potential to lower vehicle costs, however, the results are very sensitive to parameters affecting lifetime fuel costs for conventional and battery costs for electric vehicles. Based on current technology cost estimates it is shown that the optimal amount of primary mass reduction minimizing total costs is similar for conventional and electric vehicles and ranges from 22% to 39%, depending on vehicle range and overall use patterns. The difference between the optimal solutions minimizing manufacturing versus total costs is higher for conventional than battery electric vehicles.

Gear ratio optimization and shift control of 2-speed I-AMT in electric vehicle

Connecting a 2-speed transmission with the drive motor improves the dynamic and economic performance of electric passenger vehicles. A novel 2-speed I-AMT (Inverse Automated Manual Transmission) is studied, and the dry clutch is located at the rear of the transmission so that the traction interruption of traditional AMT can be cancelled. After the gear ratios are optimized using Dynamic Programming, gear shift control is addressed, and smooth shift process without torque hole is achieved through feed-forward and feed-back control of the clutch and the motor. Finally the proposed electric vehicle (EV) is compared with an EV with fixed-ratio gear box, and it is shown that the 2-speed AMT with a rear-mounted dry clutch has much better performance in terms of acceleration time, maximum speed and energy economy. The effect of clutch friction loss during shifting on the energy efficiency of the whole driving range is analyzed as well.

China’s electric vehicle subsidy scheme: Rationale and impacts

To promote the market penetration of electric vehicles (EV), China launched the Electric Vehicle Subsidy Scheme (EVSS) in Jan 2009, followed by an update in Sep 2013, which we named phase I and phase II EVSS, respectively. In this paper, we presented the rationale of China’s two-phase EVSS and estimated their impacts on EV market penetration, with a focus on the ownership cost analysis of battery electric passenger vehicles (BEPV). Based on the ownership cost comparison of five defining BEPV models and their counterpart conventional passenger vehicle (CPV) models, we concluded that in the short term, especially before 2015, China’s EVSS is very necessary for BEPVs to be cost competitive compared with CPVs. The transition from phase I to phase II EVSS will generally reduce subsidy intensity, thus resulting in temporary rise of BEPV ownership cost. However, with the decrease of BEPV manufacturing cost, the ownership cost of BEPV is projected to decrease despite of the phase-out mechanism under phase II EVSS. In the mid term of around 2015–2020, BEPV could become less or not reliant on subsidy to maintain cost competitiveness. However, given the performance disadvantages of BEPV, especially the limited electric range, China’s current EVSS is not sufficient for the BEPV market to take off. Technology improvement associated with battery cost reduction has to play an essential role in starting up China’s BEPV market.

Concentrated Driving Electric Passenger Vehicle Braking Control Strategy Optimization

Regarding the centralized driving electric bus as the research object, the influence of Regenerative braking for vehicle braking performance is analyzed, and the original brake system was optimized, a braking control strategy, which does not reduce the vehicle braking safety and performance on the conditions of recovering braking energy as much as possible.

Idealized Vehicle Crash Test Pulses for Advanced Batteries

This paper reports a study undertaken by the Crash Safety Working Group (CSWG) of the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) to determine generic acceleration pulses for testing and evaluating advanced batteries subjected to inertial loading for application in electric passenger vehicles. These pulses were based on characterizing vehicle acceleration time histories from standard laboratory vehicle crash tests. Crash tested passenger vehicles in the United States vehicle fleet of the model years 2005-2009 were used in this study. Crash test data, in terms of acceleration time histories, were collected from various crash modes conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) during their New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) evaluations, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). These crash modes included: Frontal rigid flat barrier test at 35 mph (NHTSA NCAP), 40% offset frontal deformable barrier test at 40 mph (IIHS), Side moving deformable barrier test at 38 mph (NHTSA side NCAP), Side oblique pole test at 20 mph (US FMVSS 214/NHTSA side NCAP), and Rear 70% offset moving deformable barrier impact at 50 mph (US FMVSS 301). The accelerometers used were located in the vehicle where deformation is minimal or non-existent, so that the acceleration represents the rigid-body motion of the vehicle. The wide range of variability from vehicle platforms was evident for each of the test modes. The test data were summarized using idealized step-ramp pulses obtained through parametric fit. Two-step Longitudinal and one-step Transverse acceleration test pulses were created based on the raw test data. These idealized vehicle crash test pulses may be used for evaluating the crashworthiness of advanced batteries for passenger vehicle applications. Language: en