Fuel economy analysis of a through-the-road hybrid electric vehicle

Abstract

Dwindling environmental condition and the steady increment in fuel prices are two of the biggest oppressing factors for governments and vehicle manufacturers to excavate for suitable fossil fuel alternatives to power the vehicles of the future. Among several candidates, hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) appears to be a robust solution which has enabled vast improvements both in fuel economy and reduction in emissions to comply with stringent environmental policies almost immediately. Through-the-road (TtR) HEV with rear in-wheel motors (IWM) as a fairly recent concept in HEV design offers simplified configuration at lower cost compared to conventional HEV. However this trait comes with a slight compromise to the overall vehicle performance. Advantages and disadvantages of the TtR HEV design over other conventional HEV configurations are compared and discussed. A mathematical model of a TtR HEV is developed and its performance in terms of fuel consumption over the new European drive cycle (NEDC) is observed and analyzed via simulation and pitted against normal internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. Simulation result shows significant improvement in fuel consumption.