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Various aspects of the design and evaluation of hybrid/electric vehicles are considered with emphasis on the consequences of utilizing advanced electric driveline components such as AC motors/electronics and ultracapacitors. Special attention is given to series hybrid drivelines, because they benefit much more directly than parallel hybrid drive lines from the recent large improvements in the specific weight and volume of electric drive motors/electronics. The results of the present study indicate that series hybrid vehicles with an electric range of 90-100 km and good acceleration performance (0-88 km/h acceleration times of less than 12 seconds) can be designed with a powertrain weight and volume comparable to that of a parallel hybrid of the same performance. The driveline efficiencies of the series and parallel designs for both city and highway driving differ by less than 15 percentage ponts.

Battery Requirements were determined for a wide spectrum of electric vehicles ranging from 2-passenger sports cars and microvans to full-size vans with a payload of 500 kg. All the vehicles utilize ac, high voltage (340-360 V) powertrains and have acceleration performance (0-80 km/h in less than 15 seconds) expected to be the norm in 1998 electric vehicles. Battery packs were configured for each of the vehicles using families of sealed lead-acid and nickel-cadmium modules which are either presently available in limited quantities or are being developed by battery companies which market a similar battery technology. It was found that the battery families available encompass the Ah cell sizes required for the various vehicles and that they could be packaged in the space available in each vehicle. The acceleration performance and range of the vehicles were calculated using the SIMPLEV simulation program.