Comparative cost-based analysis of a novel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with conventional and hybrid electric vehicles

© 2015 Universiti Malaysia Pahang. Hybrid electric vehicles provide higher fuel efficiency and lower emissions through the combination of the conventional internal combustion engine with electric machines. This paper analyzes and compares two types of hybrid electric powertrain with a conventional vehicle powertrain to study the lifetime costs of these vehicles. The novelty of the University of Technology Sydney plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (UTS PHEV) arises through a special power-splitting device and energy management strategy. The UTS PHEV and comparative powertrains are studied through numerical simulations to determine fuel consumption for the proposed low and high congestion drive cycles. Satisfactory results are achieved in terms of fuel economy, the all-electric range and electrical energy consumption for the UTS PHEV powertrain, providing significant improvement over the alternative powertrains. The analysis of these vehicles is extended to include a cost-based analysis of each powertrain in order to estimate the total lifetime costs at different fuel prices. The results obtained from this analysis demonstrate that whilst the conventional powertrain is cheaper in terms of purchase and maintenance costs, both alternative configurations are more cost-effective overall as the average price of fuel increases

A comparative analysis of fuel economy and emissions between a conventional HEV and the UTS PHEV

Unlike conventional hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), the novel powertrain configuration of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) plug-in HEV (PHEV) contains only one electric machine, which functions as either an electric motor or a generator in different time intervals specified by a special energy management strategy (EMS). This paper presents a comparative analysis of the fuel economy and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between a conventional HEV and the UTS PHEV, which includes vehicle modeling, EMS development, and a simulation model of the conventional HEV, which is embedded in the advanced vehicle simulator, and the UTS PHEV simulation code. The fuel economy and the emissions, such as hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides, are computed, analyzed, and compared for the two standard drive cycles, i.e., 1) the high-speed highway drive cycle and 2) the low-speed city drive cycle, proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and their combination. © 2010 IEEE