Battery electric vehicle (BEV) adoption and complex powertrains pose new challenges to automotive industries, requiring comprehensive testing and validation strategies for reliability and safety. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) based real-time simulation is important, with cooperative simulation (co-simulation) being an effective way to verify system functionality across domains. Fault injection testing (FIT) is crucial for standards like ISO 26262.
This study proposes a HIL-based real-time co-simulation environment that enables fault injection tests in BEVs to allow evaluation of their effects on the safety of the vehicle. A Typhoon HIL system is used in combination with the IPG CarMaker environment. A four-wheel drive BEV model is built, considering high-fidelity electrical models of the powertrain components (inverter, electric machine, traction battery) and the battery management system (BMS). Additionally, it enables validation of driving dynamics, routes and environmental influences and provides a precise analysis of the effect of powertrain system faults on driving behavior. A possible case for a fault injection is to introduce a shoot-through fault in the inverter. Through the co-simulation, it is possible to analyze the effects on the powertrain and the vehicle dynamics in different driving situations (e.g. snow). This work demonstrates that co-simulation is a valuable tool for the development and validation of BEVs, and presents specific fault cases introduced into the powertrain and the resulting effects tested under different driving conditions. In addition, the study discusses the system's limitations and future possibilities such as controller hardware integration (Controller-HIL) and autonomous driving system validation.
