Search Results

In the modern and fast growing automotive sector, reliability & durability are two terms of utmost importance along with weight & cost optimization. Therefore it is important to explore new technology which has less weight, low manufacturing cost and better strength. The new technology developed always seek for a quick, cost effective and reliable methodology for its design validation so that any modification can be made by identifying the failures. This paper presents the rig level test methodology to validate and to correlate the CAE derived strain levels, life cycle & failure mode of newly developed light weight stabilizer link for EV Bus suspension

Vehicle electrification is a rapidly growing and developing technology. As with any new technology there are hurdles that must be overcome as development marches forward. Overcoming these obstacles will require new and innovative solutions. One area of electrification that is quickly developing is the ability to convert voltage from AC to DC and from DC to AC. This is important since the battery pack outputs a DC voltage which must be converted to AC to drive the electric motor. The reverse is true when braking, the AC voltage generated by the electric motor is converted to DC in order to charge the battery. The conversion of voltage back and forth is controlled through the use of an inverter. The inverter uses Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors or IGBTs which generate heat while in operation. As the IGBTs heat up their efficiency goes down. In order to maintain a high level of efficiency the circuity can be directly cooled through the use of a heat sink.

Tests made with a converted Audi show that a “45 km (27 mi) range” vehicle can be driven over 100 km (60 mi) in a day if the batteries are charged when the vehicle is not in use (such charging is called “biberonnage” by the French). The tests were conducted in an urban area, with the vehicle making frequent short trips, characteristic of urban driving missions. Advantage is taken of the fact that during such driving, the effective speed is only 30 km/h (20 mph). Graphs are presented for calculating the vehicle range in a given number of operating hours, with different assumed average speeds, and different assumed battery charging rates. It is shown how a range of 160 km (100 mi) per day can be achieved with existing batteries, employing biberonnage. Biberonnage allows the use of a battery pack lighter than normally employed, thus reducing vehicle weight, initial and operating costs, and energy consumption (Wh/km).

As a typical parameter of the road-vehicle interface, the road friction potential acts an important factor that governs the vehicle motion states under certain maneuvering input, which makes the prior knowledge of maximum road friction capacity crucial to the vehicle stability control systems. Since the direct measure of the road friction potential is expensive for vehicle active safety system, the evaluation of this variable by cost effective method is becoming a hot issue all these years. A ‘wheel slip based’ maximum road friction coefficient estimation method based on a modified Dugoff tire model for distributed drive electric vehicles is proposed in this paper. It aims to evaluate the road friction potential with vehicle and wheel dynamics analyzing by using standard sensors equipped on production vehicle, and fully take the advantage of distributed EV that the wheel drive torque and rolling speed can be obtained accurately.

This recommended practice prescribes clear and consistent labeling methodology for communicating important xEV high voltage safety information. Examples of such information include identifying key high voltage system component locations and high voltage disabling points. These recommendations are based on current industry best practices identified by the responder community. Although this recommended practice is written for xEVs with high voltage systems, these recommendations can be applied to any vehicle type.

This recommended practice prescribes clear and consistent labeling methodology for communicating important xEV high voltage safety information. Examples of such information include identifying key high voltage system component locations and high voltage disabling points. These recommendations are based on current industry best practices identified by the responder community. Although this recommended practice is written for xEVs with high voltage systems, these recommendations can be applied to any vehicle type.

Energy Development Associates, a division of Gulf+Western Industries, Inc., has undertaken the design and fabrication of a four-passenger electric car incorporating state-of-the art zinc-chloride battery technology. The purpose of the project is to demonstrate the viability of the zinc-chloride energy storage system as a practical alternative to cars powered by internal combustion engines. Significant among the project goals to be achieved is the attainment of a vehicle range three to four times that of current lead-acid battery-powered vehicles on a single battery charge. Progress to date on the project is discussed. It includes the design, specification, and fabrication of the battery, vehicle and its components, motor control system, and battery control microprocessor.

Dreisbach ElectroMotive, Inc. (DEMI) is developing and testing a maintenance-free wall-plug rechargeable Zinc-Air Battery to power Electric Vehicles. This new battery technology offers over 200 mile vehicle range capability from very low cost, commonly available raw materials. This paper will focus on the preliminary systems integration needed by an electric Vehicle to operate these air breathing batteries in various common environments. Air cooling and reaction air requirements will be covered as well as the actual systems used to implement these requirements in a Chrysler minivan* which is sponsored by Southern California Edison (SCE). In addition, the projected system implementations of Zinc-Air batteries in automobiles and multi-use vans will be presented.

This paper describes a design for an electric vehicle (EV) battery system using a secondary (rechargeable) lead-acid section for power and a recyclable (mechanically replaced) primary zinc-air section for range. This approach optimizes the performance of each battery, resulting in a system with driving performance (acceleration, range, and refueling time) equal to that for internal combustion vehicles (ICVs). The physical characteristics of the system's components are highly compatible with their ICV counterparts, resulting in a substantial reduction in the cost of building prototype vehicles. The overall cost of the rechargeable/recyclable approach is estimated to be equal to that for the traditional single rechargeable battery approach.

Recharging electric vehicles with photovoltaics (PV) results in a truer “zero-emission” vehicle. Other papers have discussed the complex issue of distributed tailpipe emissions versus displaced emissions from centralized generating stations. The use of PV to recharge electric vehicles avoids the distributed versus centralized emission controversy because PV has minimal environmental impact. Even when considering the total fuel cycle, including fuel extraction and plant construction, PV still retains a significant environmental advantage over conventional electrical generation technologies. This paper reviews total fuel cycle emissions and then addresses the use of PV to recharge electric vehicles. The data presented in this paper applies also to hybrid electric vehicles.

European mega-supplier ZF has a "vision" for improving the automotive future. Much of it builds on the company's current driveline and chassis-development innovations.

ZF uses innovative motor cooling, winding technology and its transmission heritage to produce a more efficient and powerful drivetrain for electric vehicles.

As in the past several years, we provide here an overview of recent major regulatory and technological changes for reducing emissions from the transport and off-road sector. In the past, this review was focused mostly on improvement in engine efficiency and tailpipe emissions of criteria pollutants. However, starting last year [1] we have increased the scope to broadly address the increased focus on greenhouse gas emissions and the emergence of various non-conventional fuel pathways to achieve the various decarbonization goals. There are two broad themes that are emerging, and which we describe here. Firstly, that we are approaching the implementation of the last of the major regulations on criteria pollutant emissions from cars and trucks, led by Europe, through Euro 7 standards and US, through multi-pollutant standards for light- and heavy-duty vehicles.

The significance of thermal management performance in electric vehicles (EVs) has grown considerably, leading to increased complexity in thermal systems and a rapid rise in safety and quality-related concerns. The present real-vehicle-based development methods encounter several constraints in their approach when dealing with highly complex systems. Huge number of verification and validation work To overcome these limitations and enhance the thermal system development process, a novel virtual development environment established using the XiLS (X in the Loop Simulation) methodology. This XiLS methodology basically based on real-time coupling between physical thermal system hardware and analytical models for the other systems of vehicle. To control vehicle model and thermal system, various options were realized through hardware, software and model for VCU (Vehicle control unit) and TMS (Thermal management system) control unit.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are equipped with Mobile Air Conditioning systems (MACs) to ensure a comfortable cabin temperature in all climates and ambient conditions as well as the optional conditioning of the traction battery. An assessment of the global electrical energy consumption of various MACs has been derived, where the basis of the assessment procedure is the climate data GREEN-MAC-LCCP 2007 (Global Refrigerants Energy & Environmental - Mobile Air Condition - Life Cycle Climate Performance) and the improved LCCP2013 (Life Cycle Climate Performance. The percentage driving time during 6 AM and 24 PM is divided into six different temperature bins with the solar radiation and relative humidity for 211 cities distributed over Europe, North, Central, and South America, Asia, South West Pacific, and Africa. The energy consumption of the MACs is determined by a thermal vehicle simulation. In this work, four different MACs are simulated and compared.

“Zero Emission Vehicles” in the form of pure electric vehicles are quite feasible and useful for limited cruising ranges. However, market success depends on customer acceptance. Studies show, that customers expect electric vehicles with driving performance similar to conventional vehicles while comparable cruising ranges should be available at low additional cost. With currently available batteries using lithium ion technology a gravimetric energy density of only one percent of the energy density of gasoline or diesel can be reached. With respect to acceptable additional costs this effect leads to significant reduction of the cruising range. For various reasons such as battery aging, demand for heating, traffic jams, etc., this already decreased cruising range is further reduced. In such cases electrical energy can be generated with a demand oriented (down-) sized combustion engine, a so called “Range Extender”.

This article focuses on the wireless transfer of energy. It describes the operation of a transformer without magnetic circuit associated with a resonant inverter to meet the constraints imposed by mobile sources (catenaries with magnetic induction to power electric vehicles). The receiving and transmitting units consist of an air-gap transformer and a generator who feeds the transformer. In this article, we show how to determine the transformer's parameters and configuration needed for this transfer to be efficient. The transformer is fed by a half-bridge converter for serial resonant load. The primary winding of the transformer is fixed on the ground. The secondary winding can move horizontally in a parallel plane of that of the primary. This application targets mainly the transfer of static electricity for the charging of batteries and super capacitors in electric cars and trams.

The Recommended Practice SAE J2954 establishes an industry-wide specification that defines acceptable criteria for interoperability, electromagnetic compatibility, EMF, minimum performance, safety, and testing for wireless charging of light-duty electric and plug-in electric vehicles. The specification defines various charging levels that are based on the levels defined for SAE J1772 conductive AC charge levels 1, 2, and 3, with some variations. A standard for wireless power transfer (WPT) based on these charge levels enables selection of a charging rate based on vehicle requirements, thus allowing for better vehicle packaging and ease of customer use. The specification supports home (private) charging and public wireless charging. In the near term, vehicles that are able to be charged wirelessly under Recommended Practice SAE J2954 should also be able to be charged by SAE J1772 plug-in chargers.

The SAE J2954 standard establishes an industry-wide specification that defines acceptable criteria for interoperability, electromagnetic compatibility, EMF, minimum performance, safety, and testing for wireless power transfer (WPT) of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles. The specification defines various charging levels between WPT 1-3 (3.7kVA to 11.1kVA). A standard for WPT based on these charge levels enables selection of a charging rate based on vehicle requirements, thus allowing for better vehicle packaging and ease of customer use. The specification supports home (private) charging and public wireless charging also establishing a universal Ground Assembly WPT 3 (GA) at 11.1kVA which is interoperable to Vehicle Assemblies (VA) WPT 1-3. SAE J2954 contains requirements for safety, performance, and interoperability of WPT. It also contains recommended methods for evaluating electromagnetic emissions, but the requirements and test procedures are controlled by regulatory bodies.

The SAE J2954 standard establishes an industry-wide specification that defines acceptable criteria for interoperability, electromagnetic compatibility, EMF, minimum performance, safety, and testing for wireless power transfer (WPT) of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles. The specification defines various charging levels that are based on the levels defined for SAE J1772 conductive AC charge levels 1, 2, and 3, with some variations. A standard for WPT based on these charge levels enables selection of a charging rate based on vehicle requirements, thus allowing for better vehicle packaging and ease of customer use. The specification supports home (private) charging and public wireless charging. In the near term, vehicles that are able to be charged wirelessly under SAE J2954 should also be able to be charged conductively by SAE J1772 plug-in chargers. SAE J2954 addresses unidirectional charging, from grid to vehicle; bidirectional energy transfer may be evaluated for a future standard.