Intelligent Eco-friendly Vehicles
Powertrain simulation modelling
Supervisory control development
Cost-benefit analysis
Decision support
Driver behaviour
Product perception
Noise, vibration and harshness
Training courses and dissemination
Vehicle data logging
“I think everything will be a hybrid, eventually.
It will either be a gas hybrid, a diesel hybrid or
a fuel-cell hybrid.”
Jim Press, President of Toyota USA
Photo: Stefan Wernli
Photo: Ansgar Walk
Photo: Donald Breddy
"It's a challenge to the moral imagination of humankind to actually accept the reality of the situation we are now facing.
"We're not used to thinking of a planetary emergency, and there's nothing in our
prior history as a species that equips us to imagine that we, as human beings,
could actually be in the process of destroying the habitability of the planet for ourselves."
Al Gore, former US Presidential candidate
More than 20 per cent of CO2 is
produced from automotive
emissions and this is continuing to
rise, even though CO2 emissions per
car are falling.
Damage caused by flooding in Boscastle,
Cornwall, August 2004.
A Toyota Prius zips along
during rush hour in the carpool lane of the southbound
405 Freeway.
The challenge for the automotive industry is to achieve the
improvements required to reduce emissions from their
products, while making products customers want, but
doing so without increasing GHG production during manufacture. Within the industry there are a multitude of research and development routes linked to a number of
technologies. This tends to lead to a “wait and see” approach being taken during future strategy discussions.
Therefore, a methodology and suitable tools to facilitate
these decisions would be highly beneficial.
Photo: Lori Shepler/ LAT
Research by WMG into intelligent eco-friendly vehicles analyses the
benefits of introducing appropriate technologies as well as evaluating
the business case.
WARPSTAR
WARwick Powertrain Simulation Tool for ARchitectures
In support of the automotive industry’s development of eco-friendly vehicles, WMG has a
research team working on hybrid vehicle powertrain simulation and control. The team
has developed a suite of simulation packages, one of which is a modelling structure
called WARwick Powertrain Simulation Tool for ARchitectures (WARPSTAR), to address
a wide range of issues.
WARPSTAR is a drive cycle-led simulation structure to facilitate the powertrain modelling of hybrid vehicles. The principal use of the package is
to provide ‘proof of concept’ work for selected hybrid architectures (component layout and interconnections) in a particular application, with
typical outputs being electrical energy use and
fuel consumption/CO2 emissions. It is also suitable as a platform for developing rulebased supervisory control and through an iterative process can perform component sizing.
One of the differentiating factors associated with hybrid vehicle modelling is the wide
range of architectures that need to be modelled. The WARPSTAR structure allows these
architectures to be modelled with the same level of fidelity through re-use of components
from a library of real-world component data and drive cycles.
Supervisory control for the particular vehicle architecture can be chosen and the structure is such that it allows the user to be able to modify the control to suit the application
or problem.
Screenshot of WARPSTAR simulation model.
Graphs illustrating typical outputs from the WARPSTAR simulation model for a hybrid vehicle.
BUSINESS CASE DEVELOPMENT
To understand the effects
of introducing new technologies/eco-friendly vehicles into a business,
WMG has developed a
Decision Support Tool.
This tool can aid business
decisions by providing a
structured, multifaceted
approach through a preference based process.
The process allows for a
sensitivity level to be applied to the various preferences identified by the user and has the capability for re-iterative analysis to be
undertaken.
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
The Cost Benefit Analysis
(CBA) process creates a
framework to enable an extensive whole life cost
analysis to be undertaken.
The key objective of the
process is to facilitate a detailed profiling of the user
and the use of the vehicle
being undertaken, to ensure that all potential costs
and benefits are highlighted
and quantified. The resulting line-by-line CBA calculates whole life and pence
per mile costs, and lifetime CO2 emissions.
These calculations can be based on legislative fuel consumption figures or through simulation of real world vehicle usage in conjunction with WARPSTAR, with which it is fully
integrated.
The CBA allows for sensitivity analysis to be carried out which as part of the decision
support process will provide appropriate levels of comparison of technologies/products.
A number of versions of the tool have been created which are customised for use by potential purchasers, fleet operators and vehicle manufacturers and converters.
PARTNERSHIPS
The strength of the industrial collaboration is the linkage with industrial partners around
the appropriate technologies and tools provided by WMG to support the resolution of
technical issues and the automotive environmental challenge.
A selection of the partners working with the WMG Hybrid Project Team:
With thanks to Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency, for its support.
THE FUTURE
WMG has a long history of collaborative work within the automotive sector, from engine
control and emissions regulation, through traction batteries to hybrid vehicles. We look
forward to continuing this work through future programmes.
The future: building on the current strengths of WMG
Future development of WARPSTAR
will further enhance its capabilities in
such areas as emissions, driver behaviour, component dynamics, thermal management, vehicle refinement
and control strategies.
Maintaining the linkage between the technical simulation and the decision support
tool will ensure that the opportunity to evaluate appropriate technologies in
relation to the appropriate
business case development
will continue.
For details of forthcoming hybrid and eco-friendly vehicle events: www.hevents.org.uk
www.wmg.warwick.ac.uk
Printed on 100% recycled stock.
For more information, contact:
Dr Paul Jennings
WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL
Phone: 024 7652 3646
Email: paul.jennings@warwick.ac.uk
© 2007 WMG