Plug-in Hybrid Conversion of a Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle and Simulation Comparison

Poria Fajri and B. Asaei, Member, IEEE,

University of Tehran, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tehran, Iran

Abstract Recently there has been a lot of interest in the concept of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). PHEVs are the next generation of hybrid vehicles that offer important advantages over even the cleanest and most efficient of todays vehicles. They use significantly less gasoline and have lower emission rates compared to the current hybrids and conventional vehicles and also have the ability to charge from the electric grid. In this paper conversion of a series hybrid vehicle into a plug-in hybrid without the need to neither change the power train design nor the rating of the electric motor and engine is discussed. Also the performance of a series hybrid vehicle is compared with the converted plug-in model of the same vehicle using the advanced vehicle simulator (ADVISOR). The comparison outlines the benefits of the plug-in version in terms of fuel consumption and emissions and indicates that for distances more than twice the all-electric range, a PHEV is not considered economical taking into account the extra battery cost. Therefore, choosing the right electric range to handle the daily driving needs is essential and car producers are expected to produce PHEVs with different all-electric ranges for their customers. Keywords ADVISOR, Electric-only consumption, Hybrid vehicles, PHEV. range, Fuel

I.

INTRODUCTION

35%-65% reduction in greenhouse gases; 40%-80% reduction in gasoline consumption. Which the percentage ranges above are for 30 km allelectric range up to 100 km all-electric range vehicles [3]. It should be noted that while PHEVs will have an initially higher cost, but when compared to the hybrid and nonhybrid vehicles, they offer economical benefits for their owners. By charging the batteries with off-peak, low-cost electricity, PHEV owners will realize significant savings in the annual costs to operate their vehicles. In fact the cost of electricity used by PHEV is much less compared to the price of gasoline needed to outrun the same performance and load demand (1/3 to 1/4), also the average cost of electricity is stable but gasoline prices tend to rise. Another benefit of PHEV for its owner is that it can be used to power the house or any other standard electric device when there is no power available or the grid power is cut off. In this paper, different issues that need to be taken into consideration when converting a conventional series hybrid into a plug-in hybrid are discussed. Moreover, a plug-in and a non-plug-in hybrid vehicle are compared by simulation. II. CONTROL STRATEGIES The control strategy of a PHEV is extremely important. It defines how and when energy and power will be provided or consumed by various components of the vehicle [4]. In a PHEV the strategy will attempt to use all or most of the energy from the battery pack while the battery state of charge (SOC) is above a predetermined minimum point, from this point on, the engine gives assistance in order to maintain the SOC in the pack and to prevent battery damage. Two control strategies can be applied for PHEV: The all-electric strategy and the blended strategy [5]. In the all-electric strategy shown in Fig. 1, the electric motor supplies all the power needed for the vehicle until the battery reaches the low SOC level, from this point on, the engine turns on and the vehicle operates like a normal hybrid electric vehicle. This strategy requires high power batteries and motor in order to supply the load demand of the vehicle. The all electric strategy is a good candidate for converting a series hybrid into a plug-in series hybrid vehicle, because in a series hybrid the electric motor and power supply ratings are chosen in a way such that they can outrun the performance requirements of the vehicle. The second control strategy shown in Fig. 2 is the

As fossil fuel energy sources become more and more scarce, technologies that show the potential for decreasing energy use and air pollution are being evaluated. One such new technology in the field of transportation is the PHEV technology [1], a logical evolution of today's hybrid vehicle that is also powered both by an engine and a motor but uses larger on-board batteries to provide substantial pre-electric, zero-emission driving, and is expected to offer the key to reduce oil consumption and emissions. PHEVs have an advantage over today's hybrids and that is they can be plugged into a typical home outlet and charge their batteries by the electricity from the grid. This plug-in capability enables the PHEVs to operate all-electric for the first couple of ten kilometers and then function like a normal hybrid vehicle for the rest of the trip, so the driver does not have to worry about running out of electric power as in a pure electric vehicle. The all electric driving range of a PHEV generally 15 km to 100 km [2], is defined as the distance which the vehicle can travel only by using its electric motor and batteries in which during this period the engine is off, resulting in zero fuel consumption and zero emissions. As a comparison to non-plug-in hybrids, a plug-in hybrid offers: 25%-55% reduction in NOx;

blended strategy in which both the electric motor and the engine work together to provide the load requirements, but the engine provides load that exceed battery power capabilities and when the battery reaches the low SOC level, the vehicle operates like a normal hybrid electric vehicle with the engine doing most of the work. This mode of control strategy is useful for the conversion of a parallel hybrid into a plug-in hybrid, because in the case of a parallel drive train, both the motor and the engine are mechanically coupled together allowing a blended supply of power to the wheels.

Fig. 1. Operating Characteristics of an All-Electric Strategy.

In this application the battery provides hundreds or more shallow cycles per day, never approaching the fullycharged or fully-discharged state. In a PHEV, the battery is fully charged externally and when driving, it operates in the charge-depletion mode just like in an all-electric vehicle. Later, as the SOC reaches a predetermined low state of charge, the vehicle switches to a charge-sustaining mode, in which the battery will be used like that of a conventional hybrid electric vehicle as illustrated in Fig. 3. Hence, the PHEVs require high performance energy batteries with the ability to support both deep and shallow charge/discharge cycles. Research efforts to improve battery performance like specific energy, specific power and life cycle have yielded some notable advances over the past few years. At this time the two types of battery chemistries showing the greatest potential in electric-drive applications are nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) and lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. These two types have demonstrated not only much higher energy storage and power delivery capabilities, but also far longer life in deep-discharge cycling required for the electric and PHEV propulsion. What's more, NiMH and Li-ion batteries can be recycled to recover and reuse their valuable metal contents, and unlike lead-acid batteries they don't use any toxic materials. In particular, the nickel-metal hydride battery durability, specific power and high temperature operation has improved substantially, suggesting that a battery pack lasting the life of the vehicle may be within reach.

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Fig. 2. Operating Characteristics of a Blended Strategy.

III. BATTERIES The battery pack is the main electrical energy storage device. It is typically made up of a number of modules connected in series with an open circuit voltage in the range of 100 V to 300 V. In an all-electric vehicle, the battery is the only power source on board and is used in a charge-depletion mode in which it is fully charged externally and depleted at a steady rate during driving. In this case, the battery usually provides only one charge/discharge cycle per day, with the depth of discharge depending on the battery capacity and the driving cycle. In a conventional hybrid electric vehicle, the battery is operated in a charge-sustaining mode in which it is charged and discharged on board around an intermediate state of charge.

Fig. 3. Charge-depletion and charge-sustaining mode of a PHEV.

On the other hand, Li-ion batteries are a much newer design still seeing major advances. They offer power and energy densities higher than those of NiMH, which lead to physical advantages; for a given amount of energy storage Li-ion batteries can take up one-quarter the size of NiMH batteries and weigh approximately half as much. But the durability, cost, and safety of Li-ion batteries still need improvement [2]. In general the Li-ion battery would be the choice for PHEVs that need a greater all-electric range, say 70 km to 100 km, and for pure electric vehicles. But NiMH batteries are widely used in today's conventional hybrid vehicles and are a good candidate for PHEVs with smaller all-electric range.

A major disadvantage of these two types of batteries is their high cost. Both NiMH and Li-ion are expensive to produce. But just as the cost of the small NiMH and Liion batteries used in cell phones and other hand held devices has dropped dramatically, the cost of PHEV batteries is expected to drop as they go into mass production. Battery costs are dependent upon a range of different parameters including type, materials, design, and production volume. NiMH battery modules used in today's full hybrids are believed to cost around $2,000/kWh at present, with a high-volume lower bound of around $400/kWh, but experts believe that costs could fall below $300/kWh by mass production in the near future. Lithium-ion batteries are currently more expensive than nickel-metal hydride batteries and although mass production will help improve the cost of Li-ion, but it is not believed that they will achieve significantly lower prices than NiMH without major manufacturing or material breakthroughs [2]. IV. PHEV CONVERSION Since there are no commercial PHEVs available on the market today and PHEVs converted from traditional hybrids are currently in the development and demonstration phase, this paper will also focus on converting a series hybrid into a PHEV and comparing the performance and behavior changes of these two types. The main reason for choosing a series drive train for this study is the capability of a series hybrid vehicle to operate in an all-electric mode for different speed and performance requirements. Such vehicles will ideally have an electric motor and battery capable of satisfying all performance needs of the vehicle [6] and so will not require use of the engine until the batteries have been discharged to a substantial level. In this case an increase in the storage capacity of the batteries is the main modification needed for the conversion. However, in a parallel configuration the engine is used for assistance and therefore an all-electric range is not always accessible. Allowing a parallel-hybrid to operate in an allelectric mode with the same performance needs as before not only requires a bigger battery pack but also requires an electric motor with higher power rating. Therefore more packaging space and an increase in the weight of the vehicle is necessary. The plug-in hybrid conversion consists of a larger battery pack (usually replaced with the old one), a battery charger, an AC plug and some adjustments made to the control unit so that the vehicle can be used for short trips without needing the engine. For a PHEV, the battery capacity is dictated by the allelectric drive range target of the vehicle. The all-electric range of a PHEV should be chosen so that it can handle the daily driving needs of most drivers. Since most of the inner-city vehicles travel less than 50 km each day [7], a 50 km all-electric range is a good starting point for estimating the battery capacity needed for the conversion. Based on the driving pattern, weight and aerodynamic

design of the vehicle, a typical mid-size vehicle with an electric motor will use 0.125-0.25 kWh of energy per kilometer, which means that 1 kWh of energy will propel a car for about 4-8 km. Thus, for a 50 km range of electric drive, the car will need about 6-12 kWh of energy. Fig. 4 shows the energy requirements of a mid-size car with different all-electric range on typical driving profiles [8]. The energy requirements discussed are only an estimation of the battery capacity needed for a PHEV with an all-electric range of 50 km and the exact ratings are achieved by simulation. V. CASE STUDY In order to determine the changes in the performance and the fuel economy of a PHEV, one of the Iran-Khodro companys products called SAMAND is used as a model. The specifications of this vehicle and its engine are given in Table I. First a series hybrid version of this model is presented and then the changes are applied to the series hybrid model in order to convert it to a plug-in series hybrid. The converted plug-in model is compared with the non-plug-in series hybrid using ADVISOR [9], a Matlab based simulation package for drive trains.

Fig. 4. Energy requirements of a mid-size car on typical driving profiles [8] TABLE I SPECIFICATIONS OF THE MODEL Vehicle mass Max. speed Aerodynamic drag coefficient Frontal area Wheel base CG height Rolling resistance coefficient Wheel radius Engine type Displacement Maximal power 1184 kg 185 km/h 0.3 1.965 m2 2.670 m 0.57 m 0.012 0.305 m XU7JP/L3 1761 cm3 74 kW at 6000 rpm

Series Hybrid Simulation A series hybrid of the model was designed and introduced in [10]. The power rating of the major components used in the series hybrid are listed in Table II.

A.

TABLE II. POWER RATING OF THE MAJOR COMPONENTS USED IN THE SERIES HYBRID MODEL Engine/Generator Power Electric Motor Power Battery Capacity - Type 38 kW 75 kW 12 Ah (C/3) - NiMH

Total mass of the vehicle and results of fuel consumption, emission levels, acceleration performance, maximum speed and grade ability for this simulation are also summarized in Table III B. Plug-in Hybrid Simulation For the plug-in hybrid model the 12 Ah-NiMH pack of the original series configuration was replaced with a 40 Ah-NiMH pack, which the exact rating was achieved after a few trial and error simulations.
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SOC Changes

For the series hybrid a Thermostat Control Strategy (Engine-on-off) was applied in which the Engine/Generator is turned off when the SOC of the battery pack reaches its top line and on the other hand the Engine/Generator is turned on when the SOC reaches its bottom line, allowing the batteries to be charged [6]. The boundary for the SOC of the batteries was set to 0.4 and 0.7 representing lower SOC limit and higher SOC limit respectively. The initial SOC at the start of the simulation was set to 0.55 and the simulation also ended at 0.55 SOC to ensure accurate results. Fig. 5 shows the simulation results of the series hybrid model in the UDDS cycle with regenerative braking.
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TABLE III TOTAL VEHICLE MASS AND SIMULATION RESULTS FOR THE SERIES HYBRID MODEL IN UDDS CYCLE Fuel consumption (l/100 km) HC (g/km) Emission levels CO (g/km) NOx (g/km) 0 - 96.9 km/h Acceleration Performances 64.4-96.6 km/h 0-137 km/h Distance in 5 s Total Vehicle Mass Maximum Speed Gradeability at 88.5 km/h 6.9 0.167 0.716 0.33 13.5 s 7.6 s 35.2 s 49.1 m 1283 kg 157 km/h 16.4%

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Fig. 6. Simulation results of the plug-in hybrid model in UDDS cycle (a) for a 50-km range (b) for a 100-km range.

TABLE IV TOTAL VEHICLE MASS AND SIMULATION RESULTS FOR THE PLUG-IN HYBRID MODEL IN UDDS CYCLE FOR DIFFERENT RANGES APPLIED Range (km) Fuel consumption (l/km) HC g/km Emission levels CO g/km NOx g/km 0 - 96.9 km/h Acceleration Performances 64.4-96.6 km/h 0-137 km/h Distance in 5 s Total Vehicle Mass Maximum Speed Gradeability at 88.5 km/h 50 0 0 0 0 100 3.6 0.101 0.444 0.185 150 4.7 0.106 0.444 0.215 8.4 s 4.1 s 17.5 s 56.7 m 1396 kg 157 km/h 14.7% 200 5.4 0.110 0.445 0.232 250 5.7 0.112 0.446 0.240 300 5.9 0.113 0.446 0.247

The first run is considered to be in the all-electric range of 50 km in which the vehicle has no fuel consumption and therefore the vehicles emission is zero. Also, extended simulations with different driving ranges were carried out in order to observe the changes in fuel consumption and emissions of the PHEV model with the results summarized in Table IV. The other run is a 100 km range in which the batteries are kept in a charge sustaining mode of around 0.3 SOC after the 50 km all-electric range. VI. SIMULATION COMPARISON The simulation results indicate that the PHEV can meet the same speed and load carrying criteria as the non-plugin series hybrid. Furthermore, several other conclusions can be drawn from these results. By comparing Tables 3 and 4 it is clear that the conversion adds about 113 kg to the overall weight of the vehicle mainly due to heavier battery pack. As a result the PHEV has a 1.7 % lower gradeability due to the weight penalty forced by the batteries. But the plug-in hybrid has a much better acceleration compared to the series hybrid. This is because a 40Ah-NiMH battery pack can provide higher specific power compared to a 12Ah-NiMH, and for short instances (10-20 seconds) the electric motor powered by the batteries can produce higher torque, resulting in a boost and higher acceleration performance. Also, based on the results it is clear that for the first 50-km of the trip, the PHEV consumes no fuel what so ever and has zero emissions, but for daily distances more than 50-km the fuel consumption and emission levels tend to rise. It can be noted that for a 100-km daily distance the fuel consumption and emissions are about half compared to the non-plug-in model, and for 300-km daily range the fuel consumption of a plug-in hybrid is close to that of a non-plug-in hybrid, but the emissions are still lower than the non-plug-in hybrid.

VII.

CONCLUSION

In this paper, the effects of converting a series hybrid electric vehicle into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle were discussed. ADVISOR was used to determine both the performance changes and the fuel economy of the converted plug-in hybrid. The results indicate that by driving a distance shorter than the vehicles electric range the fuel tank would never have to be filled, and for distances twice the electric range the fuel consumption is almost cut to half compared to the conventional hybrid, but for distances more than twice the electric range, a PHEV is not considered economical taking into account the extra battery cost and vehicle weight. Therefore, choosing the right electric range to handle the daily driving needs is essential and car producers are expected to produce PHEVs with different all-electric ranges for their customers. REFERENCES
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