A Comparative Analysis of Fuel Economy and Emissions Between a Conventional HEV and the UTS PHEV

Unlike conventional hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), the novel powertrain configuration of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) plug-in HEV (PHEV) contains only one electric machine, which functions as either an electric motor or a generator in different time intervals specified by a special energy management strategy (EMS). This paper presents a comparative analysis of the fuel economy and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between a conventional HEV and the UTS PHEV, which includes vehicle modeling, EMS development, and a simulation model of the conventional HEV, which is embedded in the advanced vehicle simulator, and the UTS PHEV simulation code. The fuel economy and the emissions, such as hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides, are computed, analyzed, and compared for the two standard drive cycles, i.e., 1) the high-speed highway drive cycle and 2) the low-speed city drive cycle, proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and their combination.