Ultracapacitor Assisted Powertrains: Modeling, Control, Sizing, and the Impact on Fuel Economy

This paper considers modeling and energy management control problems for an automotive powertrain augmented with an ultracapacitor and an induction motor. The ultracapacitor-supplied motor assists the engine during periods of high power demand. The ultracapacitor may be recharged via regeneration during braking and by the engine during periods of low power demand. A reduced-order model and a detailed simulation model of the powertrain are created for control design and evaluation of fuel economy, respectively. A heuristic rule-based controller is used for testing the impact of different component combinations on fuel economy. After a suitable combination of engine, motor, and ultracapacitor sizes has been determined, a model predictive control strategy is created for power management which achieves better fuel economy than the rule-based approach. Various component sizing and control strategies tested consistently indicate a potential for 5% to 15% improvement in fuel economy in city driving with the proposed mild hybrid powertrain. This order of improvement to fuel economy was confirmed by deterministic dynamic programming which finds the best possible fuel economy.