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MAHLE Powertrain have developed a plug-in hybrid demonstrator vehicle. To support this one-off prototype, a flexible control unit has been developed, which is easily re-configurable and adaptable to any vehicle architecture. The unit operates using software developed in-house to achieve a fully configurable vehicle control unit (VCU), intended to provide a rapid and cost effective platform for the development of demonstrator and small validation prototype vehicle fleets. The executable code is auto-generated from graphical Simulink / TargetLink models, which greatly reduces development time and risk of errors. The graphical source code also provides comprehensive documentation for users of the system. This paper describes the resulting vehicle control unit and gives details of the application of the unit within the plug-in hybrid demonstrator vehicle.

This paper, which is the fourth of a series, presents the REEV demonstrator vehicle developed by MAHLE Powertrain, which features a specifically designed range extender unit. The previous papers describe the specification setting, detailed design and the development of the range extender engine. A current production gasoline fuelled compact-class car was used as a donor vehicle and converted into a range-extended electric vehicle (REEV). The all-electric driveline specification has been developed to meet the performance criteria set for the demonstrator, matching the acceleration and maximum speed capabilities of the conventional donor vehicle. Also, a target electric only range has enabled the battery pack capacity to be specified. The resulting vehicle is intended to reflect likely, near to market, steps to further the wider adoption of electric vehicles in the compact-class passenger car segment.