Search Results

Total vehicle integration and design is a complex process and deals with interactions of many subsystems. The subsystems in a vehicle not only have to perform their role but interfaces between the subsystems must be well understood to design for all the interactions. The global automotive market is following electrification, digitization and connectivity trends that eventually lead to Autonomy. Therefore, the vehicle integration design process needs to include these new use cases of these trends. The process starts with establishing the top-level vehicle metrics relative to key deliverables of the vehicle ranging from providing comfortable environment to the driver to good performance. The process of establishing vehicle level metrics is not trivial and quite often must be derived from the customer verbatim. Frequently, there are conflicting requirements and priority must be given to one over another.

Battery electric vehicles are quickly gaining momentum to improve vehicle fuel efficiency and emission reduction. However, they must be designed to provide adequate range on a single charge combined with good acceleration performance, top speed, gradeability, and fast charging times. The paper presents a model for sizing the power train of an electric vehicle, including the power electronic converter, electric motor, and battery pack. A major assumption is that an optimal wheel slip rate can be achieved by modern vehicles using slip control systems. MATLAB/Simulink was used to model the vehicle powertrain. Simulations were conducted based on different speed and acceleration profiles. The purpose of the study focused on the motor and power electronics sizing requirements to achieve optimal range and performance.