Homework Set #1

BRITO ANDRES

2019/03/19

1. Look for the energy flow data of the Republic of Korea (or your home country). If the obtained chart
is different from the US energy flow chart provided in Lecture 1, please generate a similar chart using
the obtained data. Include the generated flow chart in your homework. Analyze and discuss any
observations and compare the obtained energy flow chart with the US chart.

The energy consumption in South Korea has similar traits when it is compared with USA data. In [ CITATION
Law17 \l 1042 ][ CITATION Law17 \l 1042 ]Figure 1 [ CITATION Law17 \l 1042 ], the energy flow chart
corresponds to 2011 data where the primary energy is around 11 300 [PJ], and the final energy is about 9 600
[PJ]. The information presented in [ CITATION Kor17 \l 1042 ][ CITATION Kor17 \l 1042 ]Figure 2 [ CITATION Kor17
\l 1042 ]shows a slight increase in the consumption with approximately 12 330 [PJ] and 9 450 [PJ] respectively.
Using the previous information and the data from [ CITATION Law17 \l 1042 ][ CITATION Law17 \l 1042 ]Figure
3[ CITATION Law17 \l 1042 ], the first similar characteristic between these two countries is their high
dependence in non-renewable source of energy: petroleum, coal, and natural gas. They both present an effort
to incorporate renewable energy (wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal) as a source to generate electricity;
however, nuclear power plants are the predominant element in electricity generation. The use of similar
sources to satisfy the energy demand of these countries can be appreciated easily through the figures, but the
amount of energy used could not be compared. USA uses ten times the energy required by South Korea, around
103 070 [PJ].

GT501 Modeling and Control of Electric Propulsion Systems

Spring 2019
 Figure 1 [ CITATION Law17 \l 1042 ]

Figure 2 [ CITATION Kor17 \l 1042 ]

GT501 Modeling and Control of Electric Propulsion Systems

Spring 2019
 Figure 3[ CITATION Law17 \l 1042 ]

2. How do hybrid electric vehicles improve fuel economy? What are the (roughly) expected fuel
economy improvements for various levels of electrification (micro, mild, strong hybrid, plugin HEV)?
Why? (Please elaborate.)

Hybris electric vehicles combine the benefits and challenges of having an engine and a motor, and they can be
designed to achieve a better fuel economy. Most hybrids incorporates three technologies to meet this goal:
[ CITATION USD \l 1042 ]
 Regenerative breaking: recapture some amount of energy normally lost during coasting and breaking.
 Electric motor drive/assist: motor provides power to assist the engine in accelerating, passing, or hill
climbing.
 Automatic start/stop: automatically shuts off the engine when stop and restart it when the accelerator
is pressed. This reduced wasted energy from idling.
In the case of the Plug-in hybrids, they can operate on electricity alone, gasoline alone, or a mixture of both.
Moreover, The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a fuel economy estimate for gas-
only operation and an estimate for electric-only or gas-and-electric operation as can be seen in Figure 4.

GT501 Modeling and Control of Electric Propulsion Systems

Spring 2019
 Figure 4 [ CITATION USD \l 1042 ]

The fuel economy improvements are aiming at reducing the use of the engine in the situations where its
performance is not efficient, but this element cannot be eliminated since the motor has a limited driving range
working alone.

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Serial, Parallel, Split type hybrid electric powertrain
configurations? Please discuss in details the reasons behind such advantages/disadvantages.

 Serial Power Train:

Figure 5[ CITATION MIT08 \l 1033 ]

In this configuration there is only a single path to power the wheels of the vehicle, but two energy sources
available. Its principal advantage is its mechanical simplicity since it does not required a transmission. As the
motor is in charge of moving the wheels, the movement can be achieved without the transmission and with a
relative simpler control system. However, the continuous energy conversion, mechanical to chemical and
chemical to electrical, reduce the efficiency with higher energy losses.

 Parallel Power Train:

GT501 Modeling and Control of Electric Propulsion Systems

Spring 2019
 Figure 6[ CITATION MIT08 \l 1033 ]

In the parallel configuration, there are two parallel paths for the energy to reach the wheels, one with the
engine and the other with the motor. The advantage of this model recedes in the use of just one electric
motor/generator, and the energy can be transmitted directly from the engine to the wheels. This characteristic
allows the hybrid to operate in an engine-only mode or motor-only mode. In spite of providing a flexible
operation, the mechanical complexity increases since this configuration requires a transmission and an engine-
motor coupling. This increases the complexity of the control system.

 Split Power Train:

Figure 7[ CITATION MIT08 \l 1033 ]

This configuration has both series and parallel energy paths, an all-mechanical and electro-mechanical path.
This configuration increases the complexity of the systems as it adds more elements, generator and
transmission. On the other hand, the engine can work independently and charge the batteries through the
generator.

4. Both Hyudai Ioniq and Chevy Volt are both Plug-in HEVs. What are the differences between them
from the fuel economy perspective? Under which circumstances can Ioniq be a better option than
Volt? Under which circumstances can Volt be a better option than Ioniq?

In the [ CITATION USD \l 1033 ]Figure 8[ CITATION USD \l 1033 ] it is possible to observe the comparison
between these two plug-in HEV from a fuel economy perspective. The Hyundai Ioniq shows a better fuel
economy in its electric mode, as well as his engine mode. In contrast with the Chevrolet Volt (serial powertrain),
the Hyundai Ioniq combines the use of motor and engine in its two modes. This generates an approximately
ten-miles increase in fuel economy.

GT501 Modeling and Control of Electric Propulsion Systems

Spring 2019
 Figure 8[ CITATION USD \l 1033 ]

References

[1] Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, "Energy Flow Charts," 2017. [Online]. Available:
https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/home.

[2] Korea Energy Economics Institute, "Energy Info. Korea," Joo-Heon Park, Ulsan, 2017.

[3] U.S. Department of Energy, "www.fueleconomy.gov," 2019. [Online]. Available:

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/hybridtech.shtml.

[4] MIT Electric Vehicle Team, "Electric Powertrains," April 2008. [Online]. Available:
http://web.mit.edu/evt/summary_powertrains.pdf.

GT501 Modeling and Control of Electric Propulsion Systems

Spring 2019
GT501 Modeling and Control of Electric Propulsion Systems
Spring 2019