EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov.

5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

Development of a Lightweight Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Demonstrator

Girish Muraleedharakurup, John Poxon, Andrew McGordon, Paul Jennings
WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK g.muraleedharakurup@warwick.ac.uk

Steve Cousins, Kevin Lindsey

Axon Automotive Ltd, Wellingborough, NN29 7RL, UK

Abstract - This paper presents results and learning from the real life development of a technology demonstrator vehicle Axon60. Axon60 is a light-weight plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, part of the Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform sponsored by the UK Technology Strategy Board and led by Axon Automotive Ltd in partnership with Powertrain Technologies Ltd, Scott Bader and WMG. The Axon60 uses a lightweight recycled carbon fibre structure, multi-fuel capable combustion engine and an electric motor to achieve fuel economy of over 100mpg over legislative drive cycles and less than 50g/km of CO2. The plug-in hybrid vehicle using a 2kWh battery pack is able to achieve 10 miles of electric only operation due to its lightweight aerodynamic design and highly efficient powertrain. This paper shares the experiences gained during the conceptual studies in light weight body structure development, driveline selection and prototype vehicle development. Copyright 2010 EVS25 Keywords: Hybrid vehicles, Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles, PHEV, Demonstrator, Lightweight. alternatives to conventional vehicles [3]. gas As part of the Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform sponsored by the UK Technology Strategy Board, Axon Automotive in partnership with Powertrain Technologies Ltd, Scott Bader Ltd and WMG is leading a project to launch a new lightweight plug-in hybrid vehicle Axon60. The new car is capable of achieving high levels of energy efficiency without compromising driver safety and comfort. The project aim is to launch a plug-in hybrid demonstration vehicle by Q1 2011 to assess technical possibilities, user experience and market potential for light weight plug-in hybrid vehicles in the UK. This paper presents results and experiences from real life development of drivetrain components and control strategy of

1. Introduction
The challenge to reduce greenhouse

emissions is forcing vehicle manufacturers to aggressively look at the energy usage when vehicles are designed, manufactured, used and recycled. Road based transport currently accounts for approximately 21 per cent of the UK CO2 emissions and is seen as a priority sector by the UK government [1]. The UK government has set a target of 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2020. Various routes have been suggested to reduce the road based CO2 emissions such as alternative fuels, improvements in internal combustion engine, hybrid powertrains and lightweight vehicles [2]. A plug-in hybrid vehicle with its low local emissions is one of the most promising

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

the prototype vehicle.

Table 1 : DfT financial incentive requirements

2. Background
In a study undertaken by the authors of this paper, it has been forecasted that by 2020 up to 7.5% of the new vehicle registrations will be hybrid vehicles [4]. Figure 1 shows the likely adoption of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) in the UK. As highlighted in the study, factors such as initial cost, charging infrastructure etc need addressing to increase the market share of hybrid vehicles in the UK.
x 10
5

Description Vehicle Type

Requirements M1 (i.e. cars only) Must be Battery electric Plug-in hybrid or Hydrogen fuel cell car

Emissions Vehicle performance

0g/km for EV Max 75g/km PHEV Min range 70 miles (113 km) EV Min range 10 miles (16 km) PHEV Max speed of at least 60mph (96kph)

Forecast of HEV Sales in the UK

4 3.5 3 2.5

Forecast Actual Sales 95% Confidence Interval

Warranty

Vehicle: 3 years or 75,000 miles (120,000 km) Battery 3 years 5 (if requested by consumer)

Sales

2 1.5 1 0.5 0 2000 2005 2010 2015 Year 2020 2025 2030

Figure 1: Forecast of HEV growth in the UK

Several initiatives to support the adoption of Low Carbon Vehicles (LCV) in the UK have been launched by the Department for Transport (DfT). One such initiative is the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform set up by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to support programmes to deliver innovative solutions for the automotive industry. To financially support early adopters of hybrid vehicles, the DfT also announced a grant of 5000 to low emission vehicles meeting certain performance criteria outlined in Table 1 [5]. The Axon60 is one of the LCV projects supported by the TSB to advance the uptake of plug-in hybrid vehicles in the UK. The Axon60 is a two-year project which started in November 2008 with an aim to gather experience in developing and launching plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) in the UK market.

The

project

aims

to

develop

PHEV

demonstrator with an All Electric Range (AER) capability of at least 10 miles over realistic drive cycles. The demonstrator vehicle will be used to understand technical possibilities and limitations of hybrid vehicle components in real world conditions. The project is being carried out by a consortium of four partners responsible for different aspects of the vehicle development: - Axon Automotive Ltd : Project management, Vehicle design, Vehicle construction - Powertrain Technologies Ltd: Engine development, Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) development, Powertrain packaging - Scott Bader Ltd: Resin development

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

- WMG: Drive cycle analysis, Hybrid vehicle component selection, Control strategy development, Cost Benefit Analysis

iii) iv) v) vi) vii)

Series Full Parallel Through The Road (TTR) Powersplit (PS) Compound (CCPS) Coupled Powersplit

3. Axon60 vehicle architecture

The Axon60 is being developed to meet the European Union M1 class category (2007/46/EC) and hence has to meet certain technical
Power/Weight (kW/ton)
70

viii) Combined

Fortwo cabrio
65

requirements. To determine the preferred hybrid vehicle architecture the team first did a market study to identify the current competition and created a comparison matrix. Once the comparison matrix was generated a detailed analysis of different hybrid vehicle architectures was conducted to estimate the cost vs. benefit of each architecture. While undertaking this analysis following criteria were considered: Low cost route to 50g/km of CO2 Electric only operation capability Drivable in real world conditions Stop-Start capability Regenerative braking capability Minimum battery life of 3 years Possibility for Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G)

C1
60

107

Aygo 1.0 Fortwo coup

Matiz 1.0 Sirion 1.0

iQ 1.0

55

50

Yaris 1.0 Axon60 Matiz 0.8 Picanto 1.0 Splash 1.0

45

40

Figure 2: Axon comparison matrix

The need to have an AER ruled out micro and mild hybrid architectures. To keep the hybrid architecture as close as possible to the base Axon vehicle led to discarding the series, PS and CCPS architectures. Finally a full parallel architecture was chosen for the Axon60 vehicle based on ease of packaging. In this configuration both the electric motor and engine can drive the road wheels independent of each other achieved through the use of a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). The Axon60 vehicle architecture is shown in figure 3.

An initial comparison matrix was developed by WMG to compare the existing competition. Vehicles which belonged to the A segment as defined by UK SMMT were considered for comparison. Some basic performance criteria such as power-to-weight ratios and specific power were calculated for all the existing car models. Figure 2 shows the Axon vehicle when compared to existing vehicles in A segment. Once the performance metrics were identified, 8 hybrid vehicle architectures were considered for the Axon project. These were: i) ii) Micro Mild

Gearbox

CVT

ICE

Diff Electric Machine

Gearbox

Battery

Figure 3: Axon60 PHEV architecture

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

Table 2 is an excerpt from the vehicle technical specification.

Table 2 : Axon60 vehicle technical specification

without compromising safety. The use of composites helps to keep the total kerb weight of the vehicle to around 650kg (including hybrid components).

Attribute Acceleration Max top speed Max kerb weight Passing performance Gasoline range Electric range

Specification 0-30 mph in 5.5 secs 85 mph 650 kg 30-50 mph in 7 secs 320 miles 10 miles

Figure 5: Axon60 vehicle carbon fibre structure

3.1. Body and structure Existing vehicle designs typically use steel for body and chassis which make them heavy, leading to poor fuel economy. One method to increase fuel economy is by reducing the vehicle weight and improving aerodynamic efficiency. The Axon60 project aims to manufacture a carbon fibre composite car structure at minimum weight whilst providing greater stiffness in all aspects than current steel bodied vehicles. The structure incorporates features which provide higher impact tolerance for both for minor and major collisions. The use of composites allow more flexibility in the vehicle design leading to better aerodynamic shapes and lower drag coefficients. Figure 4 shows the aerodynamic design package for the Axon vehicle.

As shown in figure 5, the Axon60 vehicle uses a composite structure with lightweight bonded panels offering several manufacturing as well as performance advantages such as automated preform manufacturing, rapid vehicle body assembling with minimal fixtures and improved structural efficiency. The structure is designed to offer high torsional stiffness at minimum weight to provide crash energy absorption in excess of a steel structure. The resultant structure is expected to have a weight of 70 kg and an associated torsional rigidity of around 15000 Nm/degree. 3.2. Electric motor sizing and selection In the initial stages of concept development, DC, AC induction and permanent magnet synchronous motors were considered. Before selecting the motor configurations, several fundamental factors were considered. DC motors are much simpler to install, control and also less expensive, particularly as the DC motor controllers are much less complex than AC controllers. Also, DC motors can be driven above their rated limits for short amounts of time particularly suitable for vehicle operations such

Figure 4: Axon60 PHEV aerodynamic package

as overtaking. Yet, DC motors require more maintenance and the motor design is more complicated than a comparable AC motor. DC motors are quite inefficient when used as a

The use of carbon/epoxy composites also enables the Axon60 to meet weight targets

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

generator it will not meet some of the regenerative braking requirements of the Axon vehicle. It was also difficult to find an appropriate DC motor size which met the Axon performance requirements. Although a PM motor is desirable for PHEVs, due to its high cost, PM motors were not considered for the Axon application. Hence, for the Axon60 project, an AC induction motor was chosen due to its greater efficiency when operated as either a motor or generator, low cost and availability of AC motor controllers (off the shelf). Once the motor architecture was identified, the motor performance specification had to be determined. The Axon60 vehicle is primarily intended to be used as a city car but with motorway capability. Since the vehicle has to be used for real world applications, the project team chose the ARTEMIS urban drive cycle [6] to determine the power requirements for the AC motor.
20

The

power

requirements

under

the

New

European Drive Cycle (NEDC) & ARTEMIS urban cycle are shown in figures 6 and 7. Based on figures 6, 7 and acceleration requirements for 0-30mph, a 12kW AC induction motor was selected. 3.3. Battery sizing and selection For selecting the appropriate battery for the Axon60 vehicle the following selection parameters were considered: Energy density Power density Capital cost Life cost Cycle life limitations Depth of discharge Charge acceptance Temperature range Self discharge

The three major battery chemistries (Bi-polar

Engine/Motor power required
100 90

lead acid battery, Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery, Lithium Ion battery) were evaluated against the chosen parameters for selection.
Vehicle Speed (m/s)

15
80

10

Power Required (kW)

70 60 50

To understand the energy consumption, a vehicle simulation model (described later in Section 4) was developed to calculate the energy consumed on NEDC and ARTEMIS urban drive cycles. Simulation results showed that the Axon vehicle consumed 110 Wh/mile during the urban section of the NEDC and 181 Wh/mile on the ARTEMIS Urban drive cycle when operated as a full

40 30 20

-5

-10
10

-15

Figure 6 : Axon60 power requirement on the NEDC cycle

10.00

Engine/Motor Power required

100 90

electric vehicle. Based on these figures the required battery capacity was determined as 2kWh for a 10mile AER to preserve battery lifetime by limiting the depth of discharge. Due to the small pack size requirements of the battery, high depth of discharges in the range of 10 - 15C were required to meet the power requirement for the ARTEMIS drive cycle. The bi-polar lead acid chemistry was able to meet some of these criterias but could not meet the 3

5.00

80 0.00
70

Power required (kW)

-5.00

60 50 40 30
20

-10.00

-15.00

-20.00
10

-25.00

Figure 7: Axon60 power requirement on the

ARTEMIS Urban drive cycle

Vehicle Speed (m/s)

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

year

cycle

life,

low

weight/packaging

3.5. Transmission selection To achieve the maximum potential from a hybrid vehicle the engine and battery will have to operate at peak efficiencies. In a conventional vehicle using manual transmission, it is not possible to keep the engine operating at the best brake specific fuel consumption (bsfc) region constantly. However, with a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), it is possible to operate the engine over an optimum operating line to achieve best fuel efficiency targets. For the Axon60 vehicle, a belt driven CVT is being developed as the transmission. Figure 9 shows the overall packaging of the engine, CVT and the electric motor.

requirements and hence was not selected. NiMH chemistry matched most of the requirements but was not chosen due to high self-discharge rates and poor availability of suppliers within the UK. Finally, to keep the weight of the battery systems low and to meet 3 year cycle life, Lithium-Ion chemistry was chosen. Within the Lithium Ion chemistry options, Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) was preferred due to its superior thermal and chemical stability as well as having a better cycle life when compared to other Lithium chemistries such as Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LiCoO2) or Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn2O4). LiFePO4 are also more stable under overcharging conditions and can withstand higher temperatures without degradation in performance. Even though the energy density of LiFePO4 is less than LiCoO2, LiFePO4 can support higher currents and hence is better suited for the Axon application. 3.4. Internal combustion engine selection Based on the power requirement calculations shown in figures 6 and 7, the internal combustion engine running on gasoline fuel was selected. The engine is a twin cylinder 500cc unit producing 26kW at 5000rpm and 40Nm at 3500 rpm. The engine is multi fuel capable and has Start-Stop functionality. The static efficiency map of the engine is shown in figure 8.
26kW Engine Map
50 45 40 35

Engine

Electric machine

CVT
Figure 9: Axon60 powertrain

4. Supervisory control development

In a hybrid electric vehicle, the fundamental requirement of the supervisory controller is to ensure that the driver demand is met as efficiently as possible using a combination of the traction sources available, i.e. gasoline engine or electric motor. To develop a suitable supervisory control requires proper models of the vehicle systems. This task was carried out using WMGs in-house vehicle simulation software WARPSTAR

Torque (Nm)

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Engine Speed (rpm)

Figure 8: Axon60 engine efficiency map

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

which can simulate the fuel economy and CO2 emissions for various drive cycles and different operating modes [7]. The Axon60 PHEV architecture developed in WARPSTAR is shown in figure 10.

The design of this SCU was achieved in three steps: i) Identification of all possible vehicle operating states ii) Identification of all possible transitions based on driver demand and vehicle status iii) Check for transition conflicts between states To generate the control logic it is important to understand the operating modes possible with the Axon60 architecture. Once the operating modes of the each subsystem was identified, the following generated: Electric vehicle (EV) only operation Engine only operation Engine and electric motor assist Engine and battery charging Engine load levelling Regenerative braking vehicle operating modes were

Figure 10: Axon60 PHEV WARPSTAR model

The control algorithms for the Axon60 was developed using Matlab/Simulink and Stateflow. The Supervisory Control Unit (SCU) is the brain of the PHEV whose main functions are to detect the driving modes, driver inputs, sensor signals and make appropriate decisions based on the control logic. A two-level control architecture shown in figure 11 was adopted for the Axon60 vehicle where the SCU is responsible for the fuel economy and emissions. The SCU accepts driver demands as inputs and determines the desired output based on current vehicle speed, battery SoC etc. These outputs are then sent to the low level controllers such as the engine controller and transmission controller and become the command for the low level controllers.

The electric vehicle only operation state is entered when the vehicle speed is less than the EV only speed limit of 35 mph provided battery state of charge (SoC) is greater than the minimum battery SoC. The 35 mph cut off was selected based on the maximum vehicle speed observed in figures 6 & 7. Over 35 mph the power requirements is higher than 12 kW which will drain the battery very quickly and also these higher speeds are more likely to be sustained for longer periods. In this mode, the internal combustion engine will be more appropriate than the electric machine. The engine only operation state is entered when the vehicle speed is greater than the EV only speed limit or during hard acceleration by the driver. During this state the power required by the engine is equal to the vehicle power demand and
Figure 11: Axon60 controller architecture

the

power

required

by the

electric

motor/generator is 0 kW.

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

The engine with motor assist state is entered when the vehicle power demand is greater than the maximum engine power allowed. During this state the power required by the engine is equal to the maximum engine power allowed and the power required by the electric motor/generator is the remaining difference between the vehicle power demand and the maximum engine power. For example, if the maximum allowed engine power is 26 kW and the vehicle power demand is 30 kW, 4 kW will be supplied by the electric motor, provided the battery SoC is higher than lower SoC limit. The engine running and battery charging operating mode is entered when the current battery SoC is less than or equal to the lower SoC limit and vehicle power demand is less than the maximum engine power allowed. For example, if the vehicle power demand is 15 kW, the engine has another 11 kW spare at 3500 rpm. This 11 kW can be used to run the generator to charge the battery. This function allows increasing the load on engine to achieve a better BSFC as well as charging the battery. The engine load levelling state is entered when the battery is at optimum charge but there is excess torque available from the engine. In this instance the engine is loaded by controlling the

regenerative braking would be in operation, as long as the battery pack is not fully charged. To maximise the use of grid energy, the vehicles control strategy is developed to have a Charge Depletion strategy (depending on battery SoC) followed by a Charge Sustaining strategy.

5. Controller validation and simulation results

Before implementing the control strategy in the prototype vehicle, testing of the control strategy was done using simulation methods. The complete PHEV model was developed using WARPSTAR and was used for simulation testing. 5.1. Performance Simulation From the simulation, the power required from the engine or motor for low speed acceleration was estimated. The Axon60 vehicle is capable of reaching 0-30 mph in under 6 seconds and can reach a maximum speed of 85 mph. Figure 12 shows the power requirements of the Axon vehicle for different acceleration patterns.
Power required for acceleration from 0-30mph
14

12

Power required (kW)

CVT gear ratio. This allows the Axon60 to run the engine in a more optimum operating region. The regenerative braking state is entered when the vehicle power demand is negative. In light braking situations, regenerative braking will be used. The regular friction brake is retained for harsher braking events. After the batteries are charged back up to maximum SoC, regenerative braking would no longer be used. In this situation, friction brakes would allow the driver to achieve the required deceleration. In the case of emergency braking, both regenerative and conventional braking would occur, Otherwise giving only maximum braking power.

10

5secs 6secs 7secs 8secs 9secs 10secs

0 0

10

15

20

25

30

35

Speed (mph)

Figure 12: Axon60 acceleration performance

5.2. Fuel economy predictions The PHEV model developed in WARPSTAR was simulated to calculate the fuel consumption figures for the Axon60 vehicle when using only the ICE for propulsive power. Based on the

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

preliminary control strategy, the Axon60 vehicle is capable of delivering 107mpg (UK) over the NEDC without regenerative braking. Figure 13 shows the fuel efficiency figures for three different technology scenarios.

threshold, the main propulsive force is provided by the internal combustion engine. 5.4. Energy consumption Over the NEDC urban section, the Axon60 vehicle consumes 110 Wh/mile when operating in electric only mode, whereas on the ARTEMIS

NEDC
Fuel Economy (mpg)
120.0 110.0 100.0 90.0 80.0 97 107

112

urban cycle, the energy consumption is 181 Wh/mile. When operated as conventional vehicle, i.e. engine only, the energy required is 316 Wh/mile and 494 Wh/mile respectively. 5.5. Subsystem operation mode testing The SCU control strategy is designed to control the CVT ratio to enable the engine operate in the

70.0 60.0 50.0

Figure 13: Axon60 fuel economy figures

optimum operating range (shown in red circles). The simulation results in figure 15 show that the engine is operating in its most efficient regions.
Engine operating points in NEDC gear
50 45

5.3. Range testing One of the important performance requirements of the Axon60 PHEV is to meet the 10 mile all electric range. A simulation was carried out for the ARTEMIS Urban cycle to simulate the real world usage of a PHEV. From the simulation,

40

35

Torque (Nm)

the Axon60 PHEV with a 2 kWh Lithium-Ion battery pack and 12 kW induction motor when operated under 35 mph would meet the 10mile AER. Figure 14 shows the operation of the vehicle over the ARTEMIS urban drive cycle where the vehicle initially operates as an EV.
Vehicle Speed (m/s)
15 10 5 0 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

30

25 20

15

10

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Engine Speed (rpm)

Figure 15: Axon60 engine operating points

Also, the control strategy for Axon60 PHEV is designed for a Charge Depleting strategy
Battery SoC (%)

followed by Charge Sustaining. Figure 16 shows that the engine is in idle mode

Distance (miles)

during the all electric operation and switches on as soon as the battery SoC falls below 0.2. Depending on the starting coolant temperature and battery SoC, the control strategy operates the engine either in Off mode or in idle mode.

Figure 14: Axon60 range testing

Once the battery SoC falls below the minimum

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

410g/kWh CO2 from UK electricity grid) [8].

Engine Speed in ARTEMIS Urban Axon repeated
Vehicle Speed (kmph)
60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 12000

This low level of emissions saves approx 1.1

Engine Speed (rpm)
Vehicle Mass = 630 kg 6000

tonnes of CO2 per annum for an average UK car user when compared to conventional gasoline cars. Table 3 shows the CO2 emissions for the three different operating modes of the Axon60 vehicle.
Table 3 : Axon60 CO2 emission figures

Time (secs)

Figure 16: Axon60 engine operation in ARTEMIS Urban

5.6. Battery management testing To confirm whether the Axon60 vehicle is capable of holding the battery SoC at a specified level (Charge Sustaining strategy), a test was carried out by repeatedly operating the vehicle in the NEDC & ARTEMIS urban cycles. Figures 18 & 19 show how the battery SoC decreases with range and finally reaches the lower SoC limit of 0.2. At this stage the SCU sustains the battery SoC and switches on the ICE.
Vehicle Speed (kmph)
Battery Parameters in repeated NEDC
1 200

Drive Cycle

Tailpipe emissions (g/km)

Wellto-Wheel emissions (g/km) 27 46

NEDC Urban ARTEMIS Urban NEDC

(urban EV Extra urban ICE)

0 0

41

54

6. Prototype vehicle development

The Axon60 prototype vehicle in figure 20 is undergoing further development and is expected to complete first phase of testing by the end of Q4 2010. The first phase of the testing will involve crash testing the vehicle to European Union standards and fuel economy assessments.

SoC (%)

0.5

100

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

0 10000

Time (secs)

Figure 17: Battery SoC variation in repeated NEDC

Vehicle Speed (kmph)
Battery Parameters in ARTEMIS Urban repeated
1 100

SoC (%)

0.5

50

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

0 12000

Time (secs)

Figure 18: Battery SoC variation in ARTEMIS urban

5.7. CO2 analysis Unlike conventional hybrids, a plug-in hybrid vehicle sources part of its energy from the electricity grid. To achieve comparative emission figures, WARPSTAR was extended to include the carbon emissions from the UK electricity grid to calculate the Well-to-Wheel (WTW) emission figures. Over both the NEDC urban and ARTEMIS urban cycles, the Axon60 is predicted to have a WTW CO2 emission less than 50 g/km (assumes The second stage of the testing involves reliability and driveability assessments. The vehicle will be used to gather important real world data including: battery charge/discharge characteristics, battery state of charge depletion Figure 19: Axon60 PHEV prototype vehicle

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

and to validate WARPSTAR predictions. Along with the technical developments user feedback will be collected from customers to understand user perception of plug-in hybrid vehicles. The demonstrator vehicle will also be used to assess the practicality of the electric charging infrastructure being setup across various cities in the UK. The results of the second phase of testing and user feedbacks will be presented in a future paper.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 115-128 [4]. G.Muraleedharakurup, A.McGordon, J.Poxon, P.Jennings, "Building a Better Business Case: the Use of Non-linear Growth Models for Predicting the Market for Hybrid Vehicles in the UK", Ecologic Vehicles and Renewable Energies Conference, Monaco, 2010 [5]. http://www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/163944/ulcc.pdf accessed on 11th August 2010 (5k grant link) [6]. P.Haan, M.Keller, M.Andre,Real-world driving

7. Conclusion
In this paper, the experiences gained during the development of a PHEV demonstrator for the UK market were presented. The Axon60 project shows that considerable fuel savings and emission reduction is possible if vehicles are made of lightweight materials and combined with highly efficient drivetrains. The paper also shares the experience gained in developing the vehicle supervisory control, component selection and validation of control strategy for a light weight PHEV.

cycles for emission measurements: ARTEMIS and Swiss cycles, Bundesamt fr Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft (BUWAL), 2001 [7]. A.Walker, A.McGordon, G.Hannis, A.Picarelli, J.Breddy, S.Carter, A.Vinsome, P.Jennings, M.Dempsey, M.Willows, A Novel Structure for Comprehensive HEV Powertrain Modelling", 2006 Vehicle Powertrain and Propulsion Conference, 2006 [8]. http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/ fuel_mix/fuel_mix.aspx accessed on 18th August 2010.

8. Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the support provided by the UK Technology Strategy Board via their Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform.

9. References
[1]. A.Adonis, Low Carbon Transport: A Greener Future, Department for Transport UK, July 2009, p23 [2]. Cenex, Investigation into the Scope for the Transport Sector to Switch to Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles, Department for Transport UK, 2008 [3]. H.T.Bradley, A.A.Frank, Design, demonstrations and sustainability impact assessments for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles,

 EVS-25 Shenzhen, China, Nov. 5-9, 2010 The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

10. Authors
Mr. Girish Muraleedharakurup Lead Engineer WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK Email: g.muraleedharakurup@warwick.ac.uk Dr.John Poxon Research Fellow WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK Email: j.e.w.poxon@warwick.ac.uk Dr.Andrew McGordon Sr.Research Fellow WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK Email : a.mcgordon@warwick.ac.uk Prof.Paul Jennings WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

Email : paul.jennings@warwick.ac.uk Dr.Steven Cousins Managing Director Axon Automotive Wellingborough, NN29 7RL, UK Email : cousins@axonautomotive.com Dr.Kevin Lindsey Engineering Director Axon Automotive Wellingborough, NN29 7RL, UK Email : lindsey@axonautomotive.com