Depleting Mode Control Strategies for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Control strategy is the most important issue in the Plug-in Hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) design, which has two modes: charge depleting mode (CD) and charge sustaining mode (CS). The different control strategies in depleting mode will have a great influence on PHEV dynamic performance and fuel economy. The engine optimal torque control strategy was proposed in the paper. The vehicle simulation model in Powertrain Systems Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) was adopted to evaluate the proposed control strategy. The aggressive highway drive cycle Artemis_hwy and a random drive cycle generated by Markov Process were used. The simulation results indicate the proposed control strategy has great improvement in fuel economy.