Technical Paper
Implementation and Validation of a Series Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle
2013-10-14
2013-01-2490
The Pennsylvania State University Advanced Vehicle Team (PSUAVT) is one of sixteen collegiate teams across North America participating in the EcoCAR 2: “Plugging In to the Future” competition. The PSUAVT designed and implemented a series plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) for this competition. This architecture allows the vehicle to operate as a pure electric vehicle until the energy storage system (ESS) state of charge (SOC) is depleted. The auxiliary power unit (APU) then supplements the battery to extend range beyond that of a purely electric vehicle. To implement this design concept, the PSUAVT re-engineered a General Motors (GM) donated 2013 Chevrolet Malibu to house an electric traction motor, high capacity lithium-ion battery pack, and APU consisting of a low-displacement engine fueled by 85% ethanol/15% gasoline (E85) mixture and an electric generator.
