A Model Predictive Control Strategy for Advanced Passenger Compartment Air Conditioning in Vehicles with Electrified Powertrains

"In Europe, electromobility in private transport is still on a growth path. This is also promoted by various subsidy programs for electrified vehicles. However, an important criterion when purchasing such a vehicle is still the driving range in real-world use, especially in extreme ambient conditions in winter or summer. Air conditioning of the passenger compartment can significantly reduce the driving range of electric vehicles. The required trade-off between cabin comfort and energy consumption represents a major challenge for thermal management of electrified vehicle concepts. In this presentation, a model predictive control strategy for cabin air conditioning is introduced to reduce energy consumption and ensure comfort for vehicle occupants. At the beginning, the process of model building will be presented. Here, the focus is primarily on models for the model predictive control algorithm. In particular, the structure, the level of detail, and the parameterization of the models will be shown. The framework for the control software and its possible interfaces to other software modules will be discussed in a second part. In addition, the cost function and the consideration of the thermal comfort of the occupants will be discussed in more detail. Furthermore, the incorporation of external data sources to predict the environmental conditions along the planned driving route and the associated improvement of the control strategy will be presented. Subsequently, using a model-in-the-loop approach, first investigations on the effectiveness of the model predictive control approach in comparison to other methods are presented. The influence of different direct air-conditioning measures and their consideration in the thermal management strategy will also be highlighted. The contribution aims to show to what extent a model predictive control strategy can help to reduce the energy demand for cabin air conditioning while maintaining thermal comfort. "