Testing and Validation of a Belted Alternator System for a Post-Transmission Parallel PHEV for the EcoCAR 3 Competition

The Ohio State University EcoCAR 3 team is building a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) post-transmission parallel 2016 Chevrolet Camaro. With the end-goal of improving fuel economy and reducing tail pipe emissions, the Ohio State Camaro has been fitted with a 32 kW alternator-starter belt coupled to a 119 kW 2.0L GDI I4 engine that runs on 85% ethanol (E85). The belted alternator starter (BAS) which aids engine start-stop operation, series mode and torque assist, is powered by an 18.9 kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate energy storage system, and controlled by a DC-AC inverter/controller. This report details the modeling, calibration, testing and validation work done by the Ohio State team to fast track development of the BAS system in Year 2 of the competition. The process included modeling and simulating the performance of the BAS in a full vehicle simulation model, calibration of the inverter control parameters, validation of BAS current and torque maps for control purposes and motoring mode validation for engine start events. This effort was made possible through the support of the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, Argonne National Lab, The Ohio State University, and numerous competition and team sponsors.