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Input- and output-split hybrids using a single planetary gear (PG) can provide high fuel economy, but they tend to suffer from low acceleration performance. In order to improve their acceleration performance, speed reduction (multiplication) gears (SRG/SMG) have often been employed in various mass-produced split hybrids. In fact, adding one SRG (SMG) to input- or output-split hybrids can improve not only the acceleration performance, but also the fuel economy. Nevertheless, the full potentials of using SRGs (SMGs) have not yet been thoroughly investigated because the design space of input- and output-split configurations using one SRG (SMG) is huge; 432 configurations can be generated using two PGs where one PG is used as an SRG/SMG. Thus, in order to investigate the impacts of SRG (SMG) within a reasonable time, an efficient analysis procedure is required.

Finding optimal split hybrid configurations through exhaustive search is almost intractable, mainly due to the huge design space, e.g. 252 compound split configurations using two planetary gear sets (PG). Thus, a systematic exhaustive design methodology is required to find optimal configurations. While most of the prior studies proposed methodologies that assess the performance within the physical design space, i.e. based on the powertrain configurations, this paper proposes a compound lever-based comprehensive design methodology. The (virtual) compound lever is an attractive design tool defined by two design variables, i.e. α and β, that omits the redundancy existing within the physical design space, thus, reduces the computational load. The proposed method explores the entire (virtual) compound lever design space to find optimal compound split configurations with outstanding fuel economy and acceleration performance.