Technical Paper
Strategies for Minimizing the Noise Impact of a Range Extender for an Electric Vehicle
2022-06-15
2022-01-0966
The car buying public’s enthusiasm for electric vehicles continues to accelerate rapidly, driven by a desire to fulfil global climate change objectives, and supported by tax incentives. However, range anxiety persists as one of the main barriers to take-up, because larger battery packs remain heavy and expensive (cell price reductions are slowing). One way to mitigate these disadvantages is to fit a range extender system, powered by an efficient internal combustion engine, but such systems can cause noise concerns. Ricardo has developed a simulation-based approach, pragmatically applicable at concept stage, to define the range extender operating conditions that minimize the impact on noise heard by the driver and passengers inside the vehicle. Transfer path analysis considered both air-borne and structure-borne noise contributions from the range extender, in context with noise contributions from electric drive unit, road and wind, under various typical vehicle operating conditions.