TY - GEN
T1 - Analysis of current hybrid-electric automobile drivetrains and proposal of an alternative powertrain
AU - Ahn, Andrew
AU - Welles, Thomas S.
AU - Akih-Kumgeh, Benjamin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2020 ASME.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Byproducts of fossil fuel combustion contribute to negative changes in the global climate. Specifically, emissions from automobiles are a major source of greenhouse gas pollution. Efforts to minimize these harmful emissions have led to the development and sustained improvement of hybrid drivetrains in automobiles. Despite many advancements, however, hybrid systems still face substantial challenges which bear on their practicality, performance, and competitive disadvantage in view of the low cost of today's traditional internal combustion engines. These imperfections notwithstanding, hybrid electric vehicles have the potential to play significant roles in the future as cleaner transportation solutions. Actualization of this potential will depend on the ability of hybrid-electric vehicles to minimize their disadvantages while increasing their positive features relative to traditional combustion engines. This research investigates current hybrid electric architectures in automobiles with the aim of suggesting an alternative, more efficient hybrid configuration that utilizes current technology. This is completed by utilizing an iterative design process to compare how various components of existing hybrids can be combined and/or improved to develop a single, efficient and cohesive system that performs comparably to or surpasses existing ones in fuel efficiency and low emissions in all driving conditions. A critical and comparative analysis is provided based on current hybridelectric vehicle architectures as well as a plausible alternative.
AB - Byproducts of fossil fuel combustion contribute to negative changes in the global climate. Specifically, emissions from automobiles are a major source of greenhouse gas pollution. Efforts to minimize these harmful emissions have led to the development and sustained improvement of hybrid drivetrains in automobiles. Despite many advancements, however, hybrid systems still face substantial challenges which bear on their practicality, performance, and competitive disadvantage in view of the low cost of today's traditional internal combustion engines. These imperfections notwithstanding, hybrid electric vehicles have the potential to play significant roles in the future as cleaner transportation solutions. Actualization of this potential will depend on the ability of hybrid-electric vehicles to minimize their disadvantages while increasing their positive features relative to traditional combustion engines. This research investigates current hybrid electric architectures in automobiles with the aim of suggesting an alternative, more efficient hybrid configuration that utilizes current technology. This is completed by utilizing an iterative design process to compare how various components of existing hybrids can be combined and/or improved to develop a single, efficient and cohesive system that performs comparably to or surpasses existing ones in fuel efficiency and low emissions in all driving conditions. A critical and comparative analysis is provided based on current hybridelectric vehicle architectures as well as a plausible alternative.
KW - Flywheel energy storage
KW - Hybrid electric drivetrains
KW - Sustainable automobiles
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094185788&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85094185788&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1115/POWER2020-16997
DO - 10.1115/POWER2020-16997
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85094185788
T3 - American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Power Division (Publication) POWER
BT - ASME 2020 Power Conference, POWER 2020, collocated with the 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering
PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
T2 - 2019 Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Annual Conference, CSCE 2019
Y2 - 12 June 2019 through 15 June 2019
ER -