Byproducts of fossil fuel combustion contribute to negative changes in the global climate. Specifically, emissions from automobiles are a major source of greenhouse gas pollution. Efforts to minimize these harmful emissions have led to the development and sustained improvement of hybrid drivetrains in automobiles. Hybrid technologies include different types of drivetrains, such as series, parallel, and power split configurations. They also include regenerative braking and automatic engine start/stop during traffic with the aim of making hybrid vehicles more effective. Despite such advancements, however, hybrid systems still have substantial challenges which bear on their practicality, performance, and competitive disadvantage in view of the low cost of today’s traditional internal combustion engines. These imperfections notwithstanding, hybrid electric vehicles have the potential to play a significant role in the future as cleaner transportation solution. Actualization of this potential will depend on the ability of hybrid-electric vehicles to minimize their disadvantages while increasing their positive features relative to traditional combustion engines. This research investigates current hybrid electric architectures in automobiles with the aim of identifying or suggesting hybrid configurations that are more conducive to higher efficiencies and reduced emissions while utilizing current technology. This is completed by utilizing an iterative design process to compare how various components of existing hybrids can be combined and/or improved to develop a single, efficient and cohesive system. The compatibility of the positive aspects of various hybrid vehicles is explored in the interest of being able to integrate these technologies into a more potent drivetrain. A critical and comparative analysis is provided based on current hybrid-electric vehicle architectures as well as plausible alternatives.


Analysis of Current Hybrid-Electric Automobile Drivetrains and Proposal of an Alternative Powertrain

Division / Sponsors: 
Power Division & Nuclear Engineering Division (NED)

Power Conference
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/POWER/POWER2020/volume/83747

International Conference on Nuclear Engineering
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ICONE/ICONE2020/volume/83761

POWER-ICONE - Virtual Conference

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