28th Aachen Colloquium Automobile and Engine Technology 2019
Optimum Cooling Circuit Control for Electric Drivetrains for Increased Driving Range
Authors
Carsten Wulff, Patrick Manns, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefan Pischinger, Institute for Combustion Engines (VKA), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen
Summary
One important lever for increasing the efficiency of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is the thermal management of the vehicle. This article describes the setup and validation of a simulation model of the drivetrain and cooling components of an A-Segment BEV. The model is used to find the optimum cooling circuit control strategy. The model considers the effects of temperature-dependent efficiencies of inverter, motor and transmission as well as the impact of a radiator shutter onto vehicle power consumption. With the control strategy described in this article, the optimum control parameters yield an energy consumption decrease of 2,89 % for a simulated WLTC driving cycle at 35 °C ambient temperature. Further potential may be found by including the impact of battery and cabin conditioning in further research.
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