development of a lightweight plug-in hybrid electric vehicle demonstrator

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  • 8/2/2019 Development of a Lightweight Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Demonstrator

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    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

    [email protected]

    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.

    1. IntroductionThe challenge to reduce greenhouse gas

    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

    alternatives to conventional vehicles [3].

    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

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    the prototype vehicle.

    2. BackgroundIn 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.

    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.

    Table 1 : DfT financial incentive requirements

    Description Requirements

    Vehicle Type M1 (i.e. cars only)

    Must be

    - Battery electric- Plug-in hybrid or- Hydrogen fuel cell car

    Emissions 0g/km for EV

    Max 75g/km PHEV

    Vehicle

    performance

    Min range 70 miles (113

    km) EV

    Min range 10 miles (16

    km) PHEV

    Max speed of at least

    60mph (96kph)

    Warranty Vehicle:

    - 3 years or 75,000miles (120,000 km)

    Battery

    - 3 years- 5 (if requested by

    consumer)

    The project aims to develop a 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

    2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 20300

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    4x 10

    5 Forecast of HEV Sales in the UK

    Sales

    Forecast

    Actual Sales

    95% Confidence Interval

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    -WMG:Drive cycle analysis, Hybrid vehicle

    component selection, Control strategy

    development, Cost Benefit Analysis

    3. Axon60 vehicle architectureThe Axon60 is being developed to meet the

    European Union M1 class category (2007/46/EC)

    and hence has to meet certain technical

    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 matrixwas 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)

    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) Microii) Mild

    iii) Seriesiv) Full Parallelv) Through The Road (TTR)vi) Powersplit (PS)vii) Compound Coupled Powersplit

    (CCPS)viii) Combined

    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 vehiclebased 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.

    Diff

    CVTGearbox ICE

    GearboxElectric

    MachineBattery

    Figure 3: Axon60 PHEV architecture

    Matiz 0.8

    Matiz 1.0

    C1

    Sirion 1.0

    Picanto 1.0

    107

    Fortwo cabrio

    Fortwo coup

    Splash 1.0

    Aygo 1.0

    iQ 1.0

    Yaris 1.0

    Axon60

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    Table 2 is an excerpt from the vehicle technical

    specification.

    Table 2 : Axon60 vehicle technical specification

    Attribute Specification

    Acceleration 0-30 mph in 5.5 secs

    Max top speed 85 mph

    Max kerb weight 650 kg

    Passing

    performance

    30-50 mph in 7 secs

    Gasoline range 320 miles

    Electric range 10 miles

    3.1. Body and structureExisting 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.

    Figure 4: Axon60 PHEV aerodynamic package

    The use of carbon/epoxy composites also

    enables the Axon60 to meet weight targets

    without compromising safety. The use of

    composites helps to keep the total kerb weight of

    the vehicle to around 650kg (including hybrid

    components).

    Figure 5: Axon60 vehicle carbon fibre structure

    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 aweight of 70 kg and an associated torsional

    rigidity of around 15000 Nm/degree.

    3.2. Electric motor sizing and selectionIn 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

    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

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    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 highcost, 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.

    Figure 6 : Axon60 power requirement on the NEDC

    cycle

    Figure 7: Axon60 power requirement on the

    ARTEMIS Urban drive cycle

    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 selectionFor 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

    lead acid battery, Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)

    battery, Lithium Ion battery) were evaluated

    against the chosen parameters for selection.

    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

    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 criteriasbut could not meet the 3

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    year cycle life, low weight/packaging

    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 systemslow 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 selectionBased 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.

    Figure 8: Axon60 engine efficiency map

    3.5. Transmission selectionTo 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.

    Engine Electric machine

    CVT

    Figure 9: Axon60 powertrain

    4. Supervisory control developmentIn 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

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    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.

    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.

    Figure 11: Axon60 controller architecture

    The design of this SCU was achieved in three

    steps:

    i) Identification of all possible vehicleoperating states

    ii) Identification of all possible transitions based on driver demand and vehicle

    status

    iii) Check for transition conflicts betweenstates

    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 vehicle operating modes weregenerated:

    - Electric vehicle (EV) only operation- Engine only operation- Engine and electric motor assist- Engine and battery charging- Engine load levelling- Regenerative braking

    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 internalcombustion 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 the power required by the electric

    motor/generator is 0 kW.

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    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 electricmotor/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

    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, giving

    maximum braking power. Otherwise only

    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 andsimulation 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 SimulationFrom 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 Axonvehicle for different acceleration patterns.

    Figure 12: Axon60 acceleration performance

    5.2. Fuel economy predictionsThe 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

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    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.

    Figure 13: Axon60 fuel economy figures

    5.3. Range testingOne 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,

    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.

    Figure 14: Axon60 range testing

    Once the battery SoC falls below the minimum

    threshold, the main propulsive force is provided

    by the internal combustion engine.

    5.4. Energy consumptionOver the NEDC urban section, the Axon60

    vehicle consumes 110 Wh/mile when operating

    in electric only mode, whereas on the ARTEMIS

    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 testingThe SCU control strategy is designed to control

    the CVT ratio to enable the engine operate in the

    optimum operating range (shown in red circles).

    The simulation results in figure 15 show that the

    engine is operating in its most efficient regions.

    Figure 15: Axon60 engine operating points

    Also, the control strategy for Axon60 PHEV is

    designed for a Charge Depleting strategy

    followed by Charge Sustaining.

    Figure 16 shows that the engine is in idle mode

    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 Offmode or in idle mode.

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    Figure 16: Axon60 engine operation in ARTEMIS

    Urban

    5.6. Battery management testingTo 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.

    Figure 17: Battery SoC variation in repeated NEDC

    Figure 18: Battery SoC variation in ARTEMIS urban

    5.7. CO2 analysisUnlike 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

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

    This low level of emissions saves approx 1.1

    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 Axon60vehicle.

    Table 3 : Axon60 CO2 emission figures

    Drive Cycle Tailpipe

    emissions

    (g/km)

    Wellto-Wheel

    emissions

    (g/km)

    NEDC Urban 0 27

    ARTEMIS

    Urban

    0 46

    NEDC

    (urbanEV

    Extra urbanICE)

    41 54

    6. Prototype vehicle developmentThe 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.

    Figure 19: Axon60 PHEV prototype vehicle

    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

    0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000

    0

    10

    20

    30

    40

    50

    60

    VehicleSpeed(kmph)

    Time (secs)

    Engine Speed inARTEMIS Urban Axon repeated

    0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000

    0

    1000

    2000

    3000

    4000

    5000

    6000

    EngineSpeed(rpm)Vehicle

    Mass =630

    kg

    0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 100000

    0.5

    1

    SoC(%)

    Time (secs)

    Battery Parameters inrepeated NEDC

    0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 100000

    100

    200

    VehicleSpeed(kmph)

    0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 120000

    0.5

    1

    SoC(%)

    Time (secs)

    Battery Parameters inARTEMIS Urban repeated

    0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 120000

    50

    100

    VehicleSpeed(kmph)

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    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 charginginfrastructure 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.

    7. ConclusionIn 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.

    8. AcknowledgementsThe 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 theTransport 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,

    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.pdfaccessed on 11th August 2010 (5k grant link)

    [6]. P.Haan, M.Keller, M.Andre,Real-world drivingcycles 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.

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    The 25th World Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition

    10.AuthorsMr. Girish

    Muraleedharakurup

    Lead Engineer

    WMG, University of Warwick,Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Email: [email protected]

    Dr.John Poxon

    Research Fellow

    WMG, University of Warwick,

    Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Email: [email protected]

    Dr.Andrew McGordon

    Sr.Research Fellow

    WMG, University of Warwick,

    Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Email : [email protected]

    Prof.Paul Jennings

    WMG, University of Warwick,Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Email : [email protected]

    Dr.Steven Cousins

    Managing Director

    Axon Automotive

    Wellingborough,

    NN29 7RL, UK

    Email : [email protected]

    Dr.Kevin Lindsey

    Engineering Director

    Axon Automotive

    Wellingborough,

    NN29 7RL, UK

    Email : [email protected]