126
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
hybrid vehicle
research
A project that involves a large number of partners continues
to successfully advance the development of hybrid systems
n Warwick Manufacturing Group’s
Hybrid Vehicle Project has been established
to provide automotive manufacturers and
suppliers with access to guidance, technical
know-how and novel research relating to
hybrid design, development and new
product introduction.
At a technical level this includes areas
such as the internal combustion engine
(ICE) and secondary power source
modeling, energy storage technologies,
powertrain architecture and control
optimization strategies.
It is recognized that technology alone
will not provide a business case for further
development, and therefore the projects
also consider the political, societal and
economic effects of the technology.
The work involves a large number of
partner companies that have contributed to
the research. These include a wide range of
stakeholders in technology, varying from
manufacturers to end-users, and policy
advisors to government. However, the team
is always keen to add new collaborators to
the project. The views and expertise of the
partners have been brought together in two
key software tools.
The first is a powertrain simulation tool,
called WARPSTAR (Warwick Powertrain
Simulation Tool for Architectures), which
has been developed using the industrystandard MATLAB/Simulink modeling
environment. The tool is unique in that it
brings together all currently known hybrid,
conventional and pure electric vehicle
powertrain architectures. It has also been
designed to be used for the whole spectrum
of vehicle types from passenger car through
to hybrid bus applications. It contains an
Simon Sheldon, director of Amberjac Projects, with his
innovative plug-in Toyota Prius demonstrator vehicle
Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology | 2006
A diesel hybrid Ford Transit prototype that’s been developed by the partners involved in the Hybrid Vehicle Project
extensive library of components developed
in conjunction with the partners. The
objective has been to base component
models on real components so that the
results are relevant in the real world.
As a first step, the operating requirements
of the proposed vehicle need to be defined,
such as whether a zero emission mode is
needed, which will automatically eliminate
certain architecture options that are under
consideration. The user can then assemble
a number of powertrain simulation models
using appropriate architectural templates
and the library of components. They can
assess the effect of different hybrid
architectures and a range of different
component sizes by exercising the models
through a broad range of legislative, realworld and user-defined drive cycles.
Exercising the model provides important
information to the user; whether it can
meet the requirements of a specific drive
cycle, the fuel consumption and CO2
emissions. This enables the user to record
and analyze the results and then optimize
the model.
For the business case, a decision support
tool has been developed to identify all of
the issues that will arise in introducing
hybrid vehicles into the wider environment.
By considering typical user scenarios it can
give recommendations on the best course of
action, either for an individual owner, fleet
operator or an OEM. The tool integrates
with WARPSTAR to calculate whole-life
costs, and includes benchmarking against
conventional technology and detailed drive
cycle analysis.
It is recognized that there is a lack of
real-world fuel consumption data that a
prospective purchaser can rely upon. It
is published legislative drive cycle-based
consumption figures that will most often
be used. The calculation of real-world fuel
consumption figures is key to any cost
analysis, being accurate and relevant to the
individual. Real world fuel consumption
figures are calculated by profiling a real or
notional user including driving style, type
of vehicle under consideration and the
types of journey that will be undertaken
during its routine use.
It is widely accepted that the majority of
legislative drive cycles do not reflect current
real world situations. The team is involved
in research into developing realistic realworld drive cycles incorporating such
factors as ability to vary mass, which
centers on load variations and gradients.
Active involvement in the project will
provide access to these tools and all other
aspects of this leading-edge research. E&H
Contact the author
NAME
John Poxon
COMPANY
Warwick Manufacturing Group
TELEPHONE
+44 (0)2476 523794
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