Development of an Energy Consumption Minimization Strategy for a Series Hybrid Vehicle

Due to the limitations of current battery technologies—such as lower energy density and high cost compared to fossil fuels—electric vehicles (EVs) face constraints in applications requiring extended range or heavy payloads, such as refuse trucks. As a midterm solution, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mehmet Göl, Ahmet Fevzi Baba, Ahu Ece Hartavi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:World Electric Vehicle Journal
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2032-6653/16/7/383
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Summary:Due to the limitations of current battery technologies—such as lower energy density and high cost compared to fossil fuels—electric vehicles (EVs) face constraints in applications requiring extended range or heavy payloads, such as refuse trucks. As a midterm solution, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) combine internal combustion engines (ICEs) and electric powertrains to enable flexible energy usage, particularly in urban duty cycles characterized by frequent stopping and idling. This study introduces a model-based energy management strategy using the Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy (ECMS), tailored for a retrofitted series hybrid refuse truck. A conventional ISUZU NPR 10 truck was instrumented to collect real-world driving and operational data, which guided the development of a vehicle-specific ECMS controller. The proposed strategy was evaluated over five driving cycles—including both standardized and measured urban scenarios—under varying load conditions: Tare Mass (TM) and Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM). Compared with a rule-based control approach, ECMS demonstrated up to 14% improvement in driving range and significant reductions in exhaust gas emissions (CO, NO<sub>x</sub>, and CO<sub>2</sub>). The inclusion of auxiliary load modeling further enhances the realism of the simulation results. These findings validate ECMS as a viable strategy for optimizing fuel economy and reducing emissions in hybrid refuse truck applications.
ISSN:2032-6653