Digital twin of a hydrogen Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicle: Effect of the control strategy on energy efficiency

Decarbonization will allow the automotive sector to achieve net-zero greenhouse gases emissions. Electric and hydrogen vehicles will contribute to that final target. Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicles FCHEVs aim at solving some of the issues of the otherwise standalone options: higher range in comparison with Battery Electric Vehicles, and allowing the fuel cell to be downsized, operated at greater efficiency, and less exposed to degradation. In this paper, a FCHEV Digital Twin DT is proposed to characterize the vehicle behavior during the WLTP driving cycle with accurate modeling of the auxiliary systems. Two control strategies, Range Extender and optimized Fuzzy logic control, are compared to show the impact on the vehicle and components performance and highlight the impact, energy-wise, of such systems in the Balance of Plant. Increased range by nearly 30 km is demonstrated while simultaneously limiting load stresses on the battery pack. & COPY; 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Decarbonization will lead to zero greenhouse gas emissions in the automotive sector, with electric and hydrogen vehicles contributing to this goal. Fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles (FCHEVs) address the challenges of range and fuel cell efficiency, and this paper proposes a FCHEV Digital Twin (DT) to accurately model vehicle behavior during the WLTP driving cycle. Two control strategies, Range Extender and optimized Fuzzy logic control, are compared to evaluate their impact on vehicle and component performance, highlighting the energy-wise implications in the Balance of Plant. Results demonstrate a nearly 30 km increase in range while minimizing load stresses on the battery pack.