Design and Performance Characteristics of a Hybrid Vehicle Power Train

An analysis was carried out to determine the design requirements and performance characteristics of a hybrid vehicle containing an internal combustion engine, batteries, generator, traction motor, and power conditioning. Consideration of urban and high speed highway operation leads to special requirements for a high power density battery. Detailed modeling and simulation of power train components and their interfaces on an analog/digital computer allowed an evaluation of the total vehicle system when driven in urban traffic. Results show that presently available components or those which could be developed in the near term can be combined to make an attractive vehicle propulsion system offering improved fuel economy.