Challenge Purpose

The studied vehicle is the i-MiEV, the very first highway-qualified EV of Mitsubishi which was introduced in 2009. The EV in this challenge is the 2012 version. Initially, this EV uses a unique battery system with a nominal voltage of 330VDC and a capacity of 16kWh to feed a 49kW Internal Permanent Magnet (IPM) traction motor through an appropriate inverter.

For the Challenge of this year, the original energy source is extended to the full-active configuration that is used as the research platform. The energy storage system now consists of both battery and supercapacitor packs which connect in parallel through two bi-directional DC / DC converters to the common DC-bus. The single electric motor receives power from this energy storage system to drive the rear wheels of the vehicle.

This Challenge aims to extend the battery life and travel distance by solving a coupling issue of sizing and energy management of a hybrid dual-energy storage system of the studied vehicle. For that, the cost function that consists of the battery usage, the supercapacitor charge-sustaining, standard deviation, and root mean square values ​​of the battery cell current must be optimized.

The performance of the proposed hybrid dual-energy storage system and the energy management system can be validated using two driving cycles as the sample, including Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule (UDDS) and Artemis. All specifications and parameters of the studied system are supplied in the downloadable MATLAB / Simulink simulation model provided with this Challenge. Note that the examined solutions will be scored by using a third unknown driving cycle.

System Configuration of the Studied Vehicle

Extended Powertrain of the Studied Platform