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Their easy availability, lower well-to-wheel emissions, and relative ease of use with existing engine technologies have made ethanol and ethanol-gasoline blends a viable alternative to gasoline for use in spark-ignition (SI) engines. The lower energy density of ethanol and ethanol-gasoline blends, however, results in higher volumetric fuel consumption compared with gasoline. Also, the higher latent heat of vaporization can result in cold-start issues with higher-level ethanol blends. On the other hand, a higher octane number, which indicates resistance to knock and potentially enables more optimal combustion phasing, results in better engine efficiency, especially at higher loads. This paper compares the fuel consumption and emissions of two ethanol blends (E50 and E85) with those for gasoline when used in conventional (non-hybrid) and power-split-type plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

Limited battery power and poor engine efficiency at cold temperature results in low plug in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) fuel economy and high emissions. Quick rise of battery temperature is not only important to mitigate lithium plating and thus preserve battery life, but also to increase the battery power limits so as to fully achieve fuel economy savings expected from a PHEV. Likewise, it is also important to raise the engine temperature so as to improve engine efficiency (therefore vehicle fuel economy) and to reduce emissions. One method of increasing the temperature of either component is to maximize their usage at cold temperatures thus increasing cumulative heat generating losses. Since both components supply energy to meet road load demand, maximizing the usage of one component would necessarily mean low usage and slow temperature rise of the other component. Thus, a natural trade-off exists between battery and engine warm-up.

This paper reviews and summarizes recent developments in hydrogen (H2) powered engine and vehicle research. Following an overview of mixture formation strategies, general trade-offs when operating engines on hydrogen are analyzed and highlights regarding accomplishments in efficiency improvement and emissions reduction are presented. These include estimates of efficiency potential of direct-injection hydrogen engines based on single-cylinder research engine data, fuel economy and emissions results of hydrogen powered passenger cars and pickup trucks as well as the impact and potential of hydrogen/methane blended operation.

Hydrogen is widely considered a promising fuel for future transportation applications for both, internal combustion engines and fuel cells. Due to their advanced stage of development and immediate availability hydrogen combustion engines could act as a bridging technology towards a wide-spread hydrogen infrastructure. Although fuel cell vehicles are expected to surpass hydrogen combustion engine vehicles in terms of efficiency, the difference in efficiency might not be as significant as widely anticipated [1]. Hydrogen combustion engines have been shown capable of achieving efficiencies of up to 45 % [2]. One of the remaining challenges is the reduction of nitric oxide emissions while achieving peak engine efficiencies. This paper summarizes research work performed on a single-cylinder hydrogen direct injection engine at Argonne National Laboratory.

Fuel cell vehicles are undergoing extensive research and development because of their potential for high efficiency and low emissions. Because fuel cell vehicles remain expensive and there is limited demand for hydrogen at present, very few fueling stations are being built. To try to accelerate the development of a hydrogen economy, some original equipment manufacturers in the automotive industry have been working on a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine (ICE) as an intermediate step. This paper compares the fuel economy potential of hydrogen powertrains to conventional gasoline vehicles. Several timeframes are considered: 2010, 2015, 2030, and 2045. To address the technology status uncertainty, a triangular distribution approach was implemented for each component technology. The fuel consumption and cost of five powertrain configurations will be discussed and compared with the conventional counterpart.

Fuel cell vehicles are the subject of extensive research and development because of their potential for high efficiency and low emissions. Because fuel cell vehicles remain expensive and the demand for hydrogen is therefore limited, very few fueling stations are being built. To try to accelerate the development of a hydrogen economy, some original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in the automotive industry have been working on a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine (ICE) as an intermediate step. Despite its lower cost, the hydrogen-fueled ICE offers, for a similar amount of onboard hydrogen, a lower driving range because of its lower efficiency. This paper compares the fuel economy potential of hydrogen-fueled vehicles to their conventional gasoline counterparts. To take uncertainties into account, the current and future status of both technologies were considered.

Hydrogen is considered one of the most promising future energy carriers. There are several challenges that must be overcome in order to establishing a “hydrogen economy”, including the development of a practical, efficient, and cost-effective power conversion device. Using hydrogen as a fuel for internal combustion engines is a huge step toward developing a large-scale hydrogen infrastructure. This paper summarizes the testing of a hydrogen powered pick-up truck on a chassis dynamometer. The vehicle is powered by a port-injected 8-cylinder engine with an integrated supercharger and intercooler. The 4-wheel drive chassis dynamometer is equipped with a hydrogen delivery, metering and safety system as well as hydrogen specific instrumentation. This instrumentation includes numerous sensors, includes a wide-band lambda sensor and an exhaust gas hydrogen analyzer. This analyzer quantifies the amount of unburned hydrogen in the exhaust indicating the completeness of the combustion.

Due to their harsh operating environments, military vehicle drive trains have special requirements. These special requirements are usually represented by hill climbing ability, obstacle negotiation, battlefield cross country travel, hard acceleration, high speed, etc. These special requirements need the vehicle drive train to have a wider torque and speed range characteristics than commercial vehicles. We have proved that larger constant power ratio in electric motor can significantly enhance the vehicle acceleration performance. In other words, for the same acceleration performance, large constant power ratio can minimize the power rating of the traction motor drive, thus minimizing the power rating of the power source (batteries for instance). Actually, extension of the constant power range can also significantly enhance the gradeability, which is crucial for military vehicles.

The main idea in the concept of advanced vehicles is to combine two or more power plants in order to improve the overall efficiency of the vehicle. The modeling of advanced vehicle is challenging, mainly because of the presence of several power plants in the system. After a presentation of the generalized equivalent circuit theory, including the electrical analogy and the theory of generalized gyrators and transformers, the modeling technique is compared to existing methods. Then, vehicle subsystems are modeled from the mechanical drive train to the different power plants and energy storages, according to the methodology. Some typical hybrid architectures are processed through the modeling technique and a final equivalent circuit is presented and discussed for each of them. Finally, the study of electromechanical interactions and mechanical transients is presented.

In this paper, a mild hybrid drive train has been proposed. A small electric motor with low rated voltage (42 V) is used to (1) propel the vehicle at low speed, (2) replace the fluid-coupled torque converter and (3) realize regenerative braking. With proper design and control, the fuel economy in urban driving can be significantly improved without much change from conventional drive train to the mild hybrid drive train.

Studying the dynamics of electric motor drives is not easy. Indeed, there is no unified approach to model both the mechanical and the electrical elements of the motor drive in order to bring an intuitive understanding of the dynamic behavior. Moreover, for traction purposes, the machines are often used at field-weakening operation, which can be a source of unwanted oscillations. In this paper, the gyrator-based equivalent circuit modeling is presented. The method allows the understanding of some aspects of the dynamic behavior of DC motor drives such as the interaction between electric inductances and the rotor inertia and their oscillating behavior.

With the increase of hotel and ancillary loads and replacement of engine driven mechanical and hydraulic loads with electrical loads, automotive systems are becoming more electric. This is the concept of More Electric Cars (MEC) that necessitates a higher system voltage, such as the proposed 42V, for conventional cars. In this paper, the development of the 42V electric power system for vehicle applications is reviewed. The system architecture and motor drive problems associated with the 42V electric power system are analyzed. Solutions to these problems are also discussed.

The desirable braking system of a land vehicle is that it can stop the vehicle or reduce the vehicle speed as quickly as possible, maintain the vehicle direction stable and recover kinetic energy of the vehicle as much as possible. In this paper, an electronically controlled braking system for EV and HEV has been proposed, which integrates regenerative braking, automatic control of the braking forces of front and rear wheels and wheels antilock function together. When failure occurs in the electric system, the braking system can function as a conventional man-actuated braking system. Control strategies for controlling the braking forces on front and rear wheels, regenerative braking and mechanical braking forces have been developed. The braking energy that can be potentially recovered in typical driving cycle has been calculated. The antilock performance of the braking system has been simulated.

A general design methodology of the fuel cell powered hybrid vehicle drive train has been developed. With the methodology and a computer simulation program, all of the systematic parameters can be designed, such as, the rated power of the electric motor drive, fuel cell system, peaking power source as well as the energy capacity. An overall control strategy has also been developed. The main function of the control strategy is to properly control the power produced by the fuel cell system and the peaking power source, so as to meet the power demand, maintain the energy level of the peaking power source in its optimal region and operate the fuel cell system within its high efficiency region. In this paper, a design example has also been introduced in each section.

The concept of hybrid drive trains was first developed for automobiles. These drive trains allow achieving a minimum fuel consumption by properly matching the driving requirements and the engine characteristics. In this paper the authors analyze the possibility of extending this concept to railway vehicles. Basic hybrid railway vehicles are designed and discussed.

There is a growing interest in electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EV and HEV) due to their high efficiency and low emission. In EV and HEV, the characteristic of the traction motor is essential for the performance and efficiency of the EV and HEV. In this paper, the advantages of the extended constant power range characteristic of the traction motor for both propulsion and regenerative braking are analyzed. Simulation results are presented to verify the conclusions. Due to its several inherent advantages, especially its capability of having an extended constant power range, Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) is proposed as the candidate of the traction motor in EV and HEV. The design methodology of SRM for achieving an extended constant power range and the control strategy of SRM for regenerative braking in EV and HEV are presented.

There is a clear trend towards Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) due to the environmental concerns. On the other hand, with increasing hotel and ancillary loads and replacement of more engine driven mechanical and hydraulic loads with electrical loads, automotive systems are becoming more electric. This is the concept of More Electric Cars (MEC) which necessitates going to a higher voltage such as 42V for conventional cars. Can the evaluation of the 42V MEC smoothly lead to the Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) and More Electric Hybrid Vehicles (MEHV)? In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of 42V & 14+42V electrical power systems for MEHV. Technical issues of such a solution are explored in detail.

The possibility of recovering vehicle kinetic energy is one inherent advantage of electric and hybrid electric vehicles. When a vehicle drives in heavy traffic, for example in New York City, more than half of the total energy is dissipated in the brakes. Therefore, recovering braking energy is an effective approach for improving the driving range of EV and the energy efficiency of HEV. In this paper, three different braking patterns are investigated for evaluating the availability of braking energy recovery. The results indicate that even without active braking control, a significant amount of braking energy can be recovered, and the brake system does not need much changing from the brake systems of conventional passenger cars.

The purpose of this paper is to present an assessment of the negative impedance instability concept of the constant power loads in the More Electric Aircraft (MEA) power systems. We address the fundamental problems faced in the stability studies of these multi-converter power electronic systems. An approach to the design of sliding-mode controllers for PWM DC/DC converters with constant power loads is presented. Because of the negative impedance destabilizing characteristics of constant power loads, conventional linear control methods have stability limitations around the operating points. However, the proposed controllers improve large-signal stability and dynamic responses. The proposed controllers are simulated and their responses under different operations are discussed. Finally, we verify the stability of the controllers using the second theorem of Lyapunov.

This paper addresses the fundamental issues faced in the aircraft electrical system architectures. Furthermore, a brief description of the conventional and advanced aircraft power system architectures, their disadvantages, opportunities for improvement, future electric loads, role of power electronics, and present trends in aircraft power system research will be given. Finally, this paper concludes with a brief outline of the projected advancements in the future.