Configuration Analysis for Power Split Hybrid Vehicles with Multiple Operating Modes

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis for configurations of hybrid electric vehicles with a single planetary gearset and multiple operation modes. The multiple modes are enabled by clutches so that powertrain components can be connected or disconnected from the transmission when necessary. All possible configurations and their possible operating modes are studied systematically. An automatic modeling technique is developed to generate dynamic models for all usable modes in each configuration, so that drivability (acceleration performance) and fuel economy can be analyzed for all configurations. An analytical approach for drivability test is derived to reduce the computation load, and this analytical approach is found to be near-optimal. Fuel economy of all designs is optimized using dynamic programming. Analysis results confirm that the extra flexibility achieved by additional operation modes can improve the vehicle performance.