Electric Drive Axle Control Adaptation for TTR Hybrid Engines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hybrid vehicle technologies in the trucking industry are limited in their ability to improve fuel efficiency, as they primarily focus on hybridizing the primary engine and drivetrain, leaving 'dead' axles as passive loads. Additionally, these systems assume a fixed pairing of fuel-fed and electrical power sources, which restricts their adaptability to diverse existing fuel-fed engines.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a through-the-road (TTR) hybridization strategy that allows for the pairing of an electric drive axle with a diverse set of fuel-fed engines, and the adaptation of control strategies such as equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) to the specific paired fuel-fed engine, facilitating improved fuel efficiency and performance without significant redesign of existing components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a fixed pairing of fuel-fed and electrical power sources is used, then the control strategy can be simplified, but the adaptability to diverse existing fuel-fed engines is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The electric drive axle controller is designed to work with multiple different fuel-fed engine types through standardized communication interfaces and adaptive control algorithms. The system can recognize and adapt to various engine configurations (diesel, gasoline, natural gas, different displacements, power ratings) while maintaining a single universal controller design, thereby achieving both simplicity and adaptability
2Device complexity
If hybrid technology is applied only to the primary engine and drivetrain, then the implementation complexity is reduced, but the overall fuel efficiency improvement is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The hybridization is segmented to the drive axles rather than requiring complete drivetrain redesign. By independently hybridizing each drive axle with electric motors and batteries, the system achieves fuel efficiency improvements across the entire vehicle without the need to redesign the primary engine or main drivetrain components, thus balancing implementation complexity with energy savings
3Loss of energy
If an electric drive axle is added to supplement motive torque, then fuel efficiency and performance improve, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The electric drive axle components (motor, gearbox, differential) are merged into a single integrated assembly that replaces or supplements the existing axle. This consolidation reduces the number of separate components and simplifies installation, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while still achieving fuel efficiency and performance improvements
Data Source
AI summary
Through-the-road (TTR) hybrid designs using control strategies such as an equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) or an adaptive ECMS are implemented at the supplemental torque delivering electrically powered drive axle (or axles) in a manner that follows operational parameters or computationally estimates states of the primary drivetrain and/or fuel-fed engine, but does not itself participate in control of the fuel-fed engine or primary drivetrain. BSFC-type data particular to the paired-with fuel-fed engine allows an ECMS implementation (or other similar control strategy) to adapt to efficiency curves for the particular fuel-fed engine and to improve overall efficiencies of the TTR hybrid configuration.