Energy Balance Assessment on Vehicles with Electrically Assisted Internal Combustion Engines

Electrically Assisted Internal Combustion Engines are gaining a large popularity, as they allow to obtain a noticeable average vehicle efficiency improvement at a low cost. Two different approaches are considered in designing last generation vehicles: Start-Stop, or Micro-Hybrid, and Electrically Assisted Turbocharger. The energy balance of a vehicle equipped with electrically assisted internal combustion engines is a quite critical point, as it has effects on the consistency of the hybridization, the design of the electric power generation system and of the battery. The energy balance of a C-segment vehicle adopting the two solutions is analyzed in this paper by suitable mathematical models. Moreover, the possibility to exploit the two approaches at the same time is discussed.