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The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech (HEVT) is participating in the 2008 - 2011 EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition series organized by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and sponsored by General Motors (GM) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). Following GM's vehicle development process, HEVT established goals that meet or exceed the competition requirements for EcoCAR in the design of a plug-in, range-extended hybrid electric vehicle. The challenge involves designing a crossover SUV powertrain to reduce fuel consumption, petroleum energy use and well-to-wheels (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In order to interface with and control the vehicle, the team added a National Instruments (NI) CompactRIO (cRIO) to act as a hybrid vehicle supervisory controller (HVSC).

Improving fuel economy and overall vehicle emissions are very important in today's society with strict new regulations throughout the world. To help in the education process for the next generation of design engineers, this paper seeks to define a powertrain model created and developed to help users understand the basics behind hybrid vehicles and the effects of these advanced technologies. One of the main goals of this research is to maintain a simplified approach to model development. The 1 Hz model described within this work aims to allow energy to be simply and understandably traced through a hybrid powertrain. Through the use of a “backwards” energy tracking method, demand for a drive cycle is found, and, after tracing the energy demand through each powertrain component, the resulting fuel to meet vehicle demand and associated powertrain losses is found.

Large sport utility vehicles have relatively low fuel economy, and thus a large potential for improvement. One way to improve the vehicle efficiency is by converting the drivetrain to hydrogen fuel cell power. Virginia Tech has designed a fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle based on converting a Chevrolet Suburban into an environmentally friendly truck. The truck has two AC induction drive motors, regenerative braking to capture kinetic energy, a compressed hydrogen fuel storage system, and a lead acid battery pack for storing energy. The fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle emits only water from the vehicle. The fuel cell stacks have been sized to make the 24 mpg (gasoline equivalent) vehicle charge sustaining, while maintaining the performance of the stock vehicle. The design and integration challenges of implementing these systems in the vehicle are described.

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team (HEVT) of Virginia Tech has designed a fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle to compete in the 2002 FutureTruck Challenge. This year the competition is focused on reducing tailpipe emissions and increasing vehicle efficiency without compromising vehicle performance. The team has converted a Ford Explorer into an environmentally friendly truck. Our truck has an AC induction drive motor, regenerative braking to capture kinetic energy, compressed hydrogen fuel storage system, and a lead acid battery pack. The Virginia Tech FutureTruck emits only water from the vehicle. The fuel cell stacks have been sized to make the 35.8 mpg (combined adjusted gasoline equivalent) vehicle charge sustaining.

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech (HEVT) is participating in the 2009 - 2011 EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition series organized by Argonne National Lab (ANL), and sponsored by General Motors Corporation (GM), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Following GM's Vehicle Development Process (VDP), HEVT established team goals that meet or exceed the competition requirements for EcoCAR in the design of a plug-in extended-range hybrid electric vehicle. The competition requires participating teams to improve and redesign a stock Vue XE donated by GM. The result of this design process is an Extended-Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV) that uses grid electric energy and E85 fuel for propulsion. The vehicle design is predicted to achieve an SAE J1711 utility factor corrected fuel consumption of 2.9 L(ge)/100 km (82 mpgge) with an estimated all electric range of 69 km (43 miles) [1].

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team (HEVT) of Virginia Tech is currently going through several modeling and testing stages to develop models that represent the P3 PHEV powertrain the team is building as part the EcoCAR 3 competition. The model development process consists of several major steps. First, Model-in-the-Loop (MIL) testing is conducted to validate a conventional vehicle model, down-select a desired powertrain configuration, and generate initial vehicle technical specifications. HEVT is pursuing a performance powertrain that balances high performance with minimal energy consumption. Initial MIL modeling results yield an IVM-60 mph time of 4.9 seconds and an overall UF-weighted 4-cycle energy consumption of 560 Wh/km. MIL modeling provides an initial reference to compare subsequent vehicle modeling. Following the MIL process, Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) is used to develop a vehicle model from the ground-up that facilitates the transition to Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing.

The Virginia Tech Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team (HEVT) has integrated a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell as the auxiliary power unit (APU) of a series hybrid design to produce a highly efficient zero-emission vehicle (ZEV). This design is implemented in a 1997 Chevrolet Lumina sedan, renamed ANIMUL H2, using an efficient AC induction drivetrain, regenerative braking, compressed hydrogen fuel storage, and an advance lead-acid battery pack for peak power load leveling. The fuel cell is sized to supply the average power demand and to sustain the battery pack state-of-charge (SOC) within a 40-80% window. To optimize system efficiency, the fuel cell is driven with a load-following control strategy. The vehicle is predicted to achieve a combined city/highway fuel economy of 4.3 L/100 km or 51 mpgge (miles per gallon gasoline equivalent).

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech (HEVT) is currently modeling and bench testing powertrain components for a parallel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). The custom powertrain is being implemented in a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro for the EcoCAR 3 competition. The engine, a General Motors (GM) L83 5.3L V8 with Active Fuel Management (AFM) from a 2014 Silverado, is of particular importance for vehicle integration and functionality. The engine is one of two torque producing components in the powertrain. AFM allows the engine to deactivate four of the eight cylinders which is essential to meet competition goals to reduce petroleum energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. In-vehicle testing is performed with a 2014 Silverado on a closed course to understand the criteria to activate AFM. Parameters required for AFM activation are monitored by recording vehicle CAN bus traffic.

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech (HEVT) has integrated a proton exchange membrane fuel cell as the auxiliary power unit of a series hybrid design to produce a highly efficient zero-emission vehicle. A 1997 Chevrolet Lumina sedan, renamed ANIMUL H2, carries this advanced powertrain, using an efficient AC induction drivetrain, regenerative braking, compressed hydrogen fuel storage, and an advance lead-acid battery pack for peak power load leveling. The fuel cell supplies the average power demand and to sustain the battery pack state-of-charge within a 40-80% window. To optimize system efficiency, a load-following strategy controls the fuel cell power level. The vehicle weighed 2000kg (4400lb) and achieved a combined city/highway fuel economy of 9L/100 km or 26 mpgge (miles per gallon gasoline equivalent).

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team (HEVT) of Virginia Tech is ready to compete in the Year 3 Final Competition for EcoCAR 2: Plugging into the Future. The team is confident in the reliability of their vehicle, and expects to finish among the top schools at Final Competition. During Year 3, the team refined the vehicle while following the EcoCAR 2 Vehicle Development Process (VDP). Many refinements came about in Year 3 such as the implementation of a new rear subframe, the safety analysis of the high voltage (HV) bus, and the integration of Charge Sustaining (CS) control code. HEVT's vehicle architecture is an E85 Series-Parallel Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), which has many strengths and weaknesses. The primary strength is the pure EV mode and Series mode, which extend the range of the vehicle and reduce Petroleum Energy Usage (PEU) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Team of Virginia Tech is one of 15 schools across the United States and Canada currently competing in EcoCAR 2: Plugging In to the Future. EcoCAR 2 is a three year competition that mimics GM's Vehicle Development Process (VDP): design, build, then refine. The first step in the design process is the selection of a powertrain architecture. In the architecture selection process, HEVT considered three options: a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), a Series Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), and a Series-Parallel PHEV. The team chose the Series-Parallel PHEV based on powertrain modeling and simulation and CAD packaging analysis. Next, the team looked at a variety of component combinations and selected the one that offered the best capacity to meet competition and team goals. These components are then packaged in the CAD model to plan for component integration. As this integration was happening, a control system was also being developed.