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Fuel economy and energy consumption in hybrid electric powertrain vehicles are highly dependent on managing power flow requirements. This opportunity has been minimally addressed in previous vehicles entered in the Formula Hybrid SAE competition. This paper outlines a method for determining an optimal rule-based energy management strategy for a post-transmission parallel hybrid electric vehicle developed at the University of Idaho. A supervisory controller determines the proper power split ratio between the available power sources (electrical and thermal). A GT-Suite model was used to simulate powertrain performance based on inputs of a numerically predicted engine performance map, an electric motor characteristic curve, vehicle data, road load parameters derived from a roll-down test, and vehicle driving cycle.

Over the last five years the Vandal Hybrid Racing team at the University of Idaho has developed a compact, lightweight, and mass centralized vehicle design with a rule-based energy management system. Major areas of innovation are a close fitting frame design made possible by the location of major components and engine modifications to improve performance. The innovative design features include a custom designed engine, battery pack and simplistic hybrid coupling system. The vehicle also incorporates a trailing link suspension, and realization of a rule-based Energy Management System (EMS) which determines the power split of the combustion and electric systems. The EMS oversees the operation of the Lynch electric motor and the YZ250F engine that is housed in a custom crankcase. The battery pack can initially store 2 MJ of energy in a single 50 lb. lithium polymer battery pack that is located underneath the cockpit.