The impact of hybrid and electric powertrains on vehicle dynamics, control systems and energy regeneration

Abstract

The background to the development of so-called 'green' or 'low carbon' vehicles continues to be relentlessly rehearsed throughout the literature. Research and development (R&D) into novel powertrainsoften based on electric or hybrid technologyhas been dominating automotive engineering around the world for the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Inevitably, most of the R&D has focused on the powertrain technology and the energy management challenges. However, as new powertrains have started to become commercially available, their effects on other aspects of vehicle performance have become increasingly important. This paper focuses on the review of the integration of new electrified powertrains with the vehicle dynamics and control systems. The integration effects can be discussed in terms of three generic aspects of vehicle motions, namely roll-plane, pitch-plane, and yaw-plane, which however are strongly coupled. Topic on regenerative suspension is further discussed. It quickly becomes clear that this integration poses some interesting future engineering challenges to maintain currently accepted levels of ride, handling and stability performance.

Integral sliding mode for the yaw moment control of four-wheel-drive fully electric vehicles with in-wheel motors

“…These safety functionalities can be enhanced by means of torque-vectoring through the electric motors, as analysed in detail in De Novellis et al (2015) through experiments: a yaw moment can be continuously generated without variation of the net traction force. However, "despite the significant volume of theoretical studies of torque-vectoring on vehicle handling control, there is no widely accepted design methodology of how to exploit it to improve vehicle handling and stability significantly" (Crolla and Cao, 2012). In this respect, within the vehicle controller implementation presented in this paper, the driver can select between different driving modes (e.g., Normal, Sport and Eco), each of these corresponding to a specific set of reference understeer characteristics, and hence to different reference yaw rates, which can enhance the driver's experience also in common driving conditions at moderate lateral accelerations.…”

Design and comparison of the handling performance of different electric vehicle layouts

“…As recently pointed out in [7], 'despite the significant volume of theoretical studies of torque-vectoring on vehicle handling control, there is no widely accepted design methodology of how to exploit it to improve vehicle handling and stability significantly'. To address this issue, novel analytical tools and metrics are required that provide data for the engineer to make an informed design choice.…”

Optimization and Model Validation of Operation Control Strategies for a Novel Dual-Motor Coupling-Propulsion Pure Electric Vehicle

“…Low-emission pure electric vehicles are among the most effective technologies to alleviate such dependency and promote further developments of green transportation [2]. The design of the powertrain structure and the drive control strategy of pure electric vehicles (PEVs) are important for high economic, dynamic, and ride comfort performances [3].…”