Series Architecture on Hybrid Electric Vehicles: A Review

The use of series architecture nowadays is mainly on hybrid buses. In comparison with series-parallel and parallel architectures, which are usually exploited on medium-size cars, the series architecture allows achieving internal combustion engine higher efficiency. The downside of this architecture, due to a double energy conversion (i.e., mechanical energy converted in electrical energy and electrical energy converted again in mechanical energy), is that additional losses are introduced. For this reason, the parallel and the series/parallel architectures were considered more suitable for hybrid medium-size cars. Nevertheless, the use of new technologies can change this scenario. Regarding storage systems, supercapacitors achieved a significant energy density, and they guarantee much higher efficiency than battery storage. Moreover, the use of wide-bandgap components for power electronic converters, such as silicon carbide devices, assure lower losses. In this scenario, the series architecture can become competitive on medium-size cars. This paper shows a review of various studies performed on this topic.

Automated summary

The series architecture is mainly used on hybrid buses for higher efficiency, but introduces additional losses due to double energy conversion. New technologies like supercapacitors and silicon carbide devices may change this, making series architecture competitive on medium-size cars.