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Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), working with the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), maintains hybrid vehicle simulation software: the PNGV System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT). The importance of component models and the complexity involved in setting up optimized control strategies require validation of the models and controls developed in PSAT. Using ANL's Advanced Powertrain Test Facilities (APTF), more than 50 tests on the Honda Insight were used to validate the PSAT drivetrain configuration. Extensive instrumentation, including the half-shaft torque sensor, provides the data needed for through comparison of model results and test data. In this paper, we will first describe the process and the type of test used to validate the models. Then we will explain the tuning of the simulated vehicle control strategy, based on the analysis of the differences between test and simulation.

In recent years, vehicle manufacturers have made great progress in developing and demonstrating commercially available and prototyped hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). These vehicles include commercially available gasoline hybrid cars (Toyota Prius and Honda Insight) and Partnership for the Next Generation Vehicle (PNGV) diesel hybrid prototypes (Ford Prodigy, GM Precept, and DaimlerChrysler ESX3). In this paper, we discuss tested and claimed fuel benefits and performance of these commercial and prototyped HEVs relative to conventional vehicles (CVs) that are otherwise similar to these HEVs, except for hybridization. We also describe a reverse-engineering approach to de-hybridize or “conventionalize” these five existing commercial and prototyped HEVs. Because these commercial and prototyped HEVs represent a variety of technological choices, configurations, and development stages, this analysis gives us in-depth knowledge about how each of these vehicles achieves high efficiency.