Numerical analysis of the benefits achievable by after-market mild hybridisation of conventional cars

Abstract

It is worldwide recognised how hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) currently represents a key technology to reduce automotive fuel consumption and related emissions. Nevertheless, since HEV market share is still insufficient to produce a significant impact on global energy consumption, also due to the recent global financial crisis, a substantial replacement of conventional vehicles is unlikely to occur in a short time. Therefore, a solution is proposed in this paper, consisting of a kit for after-market mild solar hybridisation of conventional vehicles. The mild hybridisation is obtained by replacing original rear wheels by in-wheel motors, on one hand, and, on the other, by adding a photovoltaic (PV) panel, a second battery pack and a dedicated control unit. The substantial benefits obtainable in terms of fuel consumption are evaluated by running a numerical analysis on different kit designs and original conventional cars converted via the kit.