IVIsion and IVInet – Tool Chain for the Electrification of City Bus Routes

AbstractThe Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure (IVI) developed a method and matching tools (IVIsion and IVInet) that analyzes and evaluates individual bus routes or entire bus route networks regarding their suitability for electric buses.IVInet analyses the vehicle rostering plan and the route network. The software is designed especially for the development of suitable solutions in the transfer from diesel-powered bus networks to electric buses. Based on generalized values for traction energy demands and simplified assumptions regarding the energy demand of auxiliaries, heating, and cooling, the state of charge of the energy storage is analysed for the vehicle circulation under consideration of a boost charging strategy. With an optimization method the optimal number of charging infrastructure will be find under given conditions.IVIsion is an in-house development that comprises several program modules for data processing, for the calculation of driving systems, and for evaluating the calculation results. At least it contains more than 200 preconfigured drive trains for conventional, parallel, and serial hybrid as well as purely electrical driving systems. IVIsion offers opportunity for detailed calculations that take into account models for auxiliary units, the wiring system, drive train cooling, and passenger compartment air conditioning. All powertrain components, auxiliary components and their respective intelligent control strategies are part of the tool. The usage of the tool chain is explained in an application example

EcoTrain: The Erzgebirgsbahn's New Hybrid Railway Vehicle

AbstractClimate change is one of the greatest challenges of the 21th century. To counteract increasing temperatures and to decrease the dependency on fossil fuels various projects are currently conducted aiming at the private and all the different industrial sectors. One of them is the EcoTrain project which is an undertaking of a consortium of several project partners lead by Deutsche Bahn. Working closely with DB RegioNetz Verkehrs GmbH, the Erzgebirgsbahn, the TU Dresden, the Fraunhofer IVI as well as the TU Chemnitz, these partners explore and work on new approaches to finding solutions for an energy-efficient mass transit vehicle. The EcoTrain project aims at developing a hybrid railcar for the Erzgebirgsbahn: A standard class 642 rail vehicle is going to be converted to a cutting-edge and innovative hybrid railcar. Later on, this prototype will serve as basis for converting the entire Erzgebirgsbahn railcar fleet. This paper deals with the development of a drive train concept for the EcoTrain. Three different approaches to hybridization are explained in conjunction with their respective advantages and disadvantages. The hybridization concepts are assessed and the drive train concept of the EcoTrain is introduced. Furthermore the simulation tool IVIsion which was used to dimension the drive train components is explained along with the achieved simulation results. The paper concludes with an introduction to the so-called energy management module which is developed by Fraunhofer IVI. This module predicts the vehicle's movement along the track and calculates recommendations for energy flow and driving style based on the schedule and current position