A Hybrid Vehicle Evaluation Code and Its Application to Vehicle Design

This paper describes a hybrid vehicle simulation model which can be applied to many of the vehicles currently being considered for low emissions and high fuel economy. The code operates in batch mode with all the vehicle information stored in data files. The code calculates power train dimensions, fuel economy for three driving schedules, time for 0 - 96 km/h at maximum acceleration, hill climbing performance, and emissions.

This paper also documents the application of the code to a hybrid vehicle that utilizes a hydrogen internal combustion engine. The simulation model is used for parametric studies of the vehicle. The results show the fuel economy of the vehicle as a function of vehicle mass, aerodynamic drag, engine efficiency, accessory load, and flywheel efficiency. The code also calculates the minimum flywheel energy and power to obtain a desired performance. The hydrogen hybrid vehicle analyzed in the paper has a range of 480 km (300 miles), with a predicted gasoline equivalent fuel efficiency of 33.7 km/liter (79.3 mpg).