Hybrid Powertrain Setpoint Planning for Zero-Emission Route Segments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for managing fuel and electric current consumption in plug-in hybrid vehicles do not ensure all-electric operation in zero-emission zones and fail to minimize fuel consumption over varying journey routes, particularly when routes include both motorway and city sections, leading to inefficient energy use and potential exclusion from zero-emission zones due to discharged batteries.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses a navigation system to divide routes into sections, acquire attributes, and determine optimal energy management points through a heuristic optimization algorithm to maximize battery discharge in zero-emission zones and minimize fuel consumption, ensuring all-electric operation where allowed and reducing overall fuel use by penalizing non-zero fuel consumption sections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the traction battery is discharged systematically at the beginning of the journey until a minimum energy level is reached, then the electric powertrain can be used to the maximum on short journeys, but the vehicle cannot ensure all-electric operation in zero-emission zones when the battery is discharged
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system pre-acquires the journey route and identifies zero-emission zones beforehand. The energy management strategy is calculated in advance, determining optimal battery discharge points to ensure the vehicle arrives at zero-emission zones with sufficient battery charge for all-electric operation, rather than simply discharging until minimum level regardless of route constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the minimum energy level threshold and discharge rate based on route characteristics, distance to zero-emission zones, and vehicle capabilities. Instead of a fixed minimum energy level, the strategy modifies energy management parameters to balance electric powertrain utilization with ensuring access to zero-emission zones.
2Speed
If the vehicle uses the electric powertrain on motorway sections at high power, then the vehicle can maintain speed, but electrical losses are high and fuel consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The energy management strategy dynamically adjusts powertrain selection based on real-time conditions including vehicle speed, battery state of charge, and route characteristics. On motorway sections, the system optimizes the balance between electric and thermal powertrain usage, adjusting discharge rates and switching points to minimize electrical losses while maintaining required speed, rather than using electric powertrain at maximum power regardless of efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system modifies operational parameters such as discharge rate, power distribution between powertrains, and switching thresholds based on motorway vs. city section characteristics. On motorways, it adjusts to reduce electrical losses by optimizing the mix of electric and thermal power usage, while on city sections it prioritizes electric operation to meet emissions requirements.
3Productivity
If the vehicle uses the thermal powertrain in city sections, then the vehicle can maintain operation, but the efficiency of the internal combustion engine is lower and polluting emissions increase
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system pre-identifies city sections with zero-emission zone restrictions and calculates the energy required to traverse these sections electrically. The battery discharge strategy is adjusted in advance to ensure sufficient charge reaches these sections, prioritizing electric operation in high-emission areas rather than allowing thermal powertrain operation that would generate pollutants.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes powertrain selection parameters based on location, switching to prefer electric powertrain operation in city sections and zero-emission zones where thermal operation would generate harmful emissions, while maintaining operational continuity through coordinated powertrain management.
4Reliability
If the vehicle discharges the battery to ensure all-electric operation in zero-emission zones, then access to these zones is maintained, but fuel consumption may increase to recharge the battery
Solution Approach 1:
The system optimizes the discharge rate and timing parameters to achieve the minimum necessary battery depletion for zero-emission zone access, rather than excessive discharge. It calculates optimal discharge profiles that balance ensuring sufficient charge for restricted zones with minimizing the energy deficit that would require fuel consumption for recharging, adjusting parameters based on route characteristics and vehicle efficiency curves.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for calculating a management setpoint for the consumption of fuel and of electric current by a hybrid motor vehicle including at least one electric motor that is supplied with electric current by a traction battery and an internal combustion engine that runs on fuel. According to the invention, this method comprises steps of: a) acquiring a journey to be made; b) dividing said journey into successive segments; c) acquiring, for each segment, attributes that characterize said segment, a first of said attributes relating to the authorized or unauthorized character with regard to the use of the internal combustion engine over said segment; d) for each of said segments, acquiring a relationship relating the fuel consumption of the hybrid motor vehicle over the segment to its electrical power consumption; e) determining an optimal consumption point in each of the relationships acquired so as to maximize the discharging of the traction battery over the segments for which the first attribute indicates that use of the internal combustion engine is not authorized, minimize the fuel consumption of the hybrid motor vehicle over the entire journey, and maximize the discharging of the traction battery upon completion of the journey; and f) developing a setpoint for power management over the entire journey, according to the coordinates of said optimal points.