Study on the effects of battery capacity on the performance of hybrid electric vehicles

Hybrid electric vehicles are gaining a significant presence in the auto market. However, the present day hybrid electric vehicles mostly use battery as a secondary source of power. If the battery were to be used as a primary source of power then the battery capacity is one of the important features in the design of a hybrid electric vehicle. Hybrid electric vehicles which are powered by more than one energy source have to follow a good energy management strategy to provide the best fuel economy in all situations. This paper presents a comprehensive study of the effect of variation of the energy storage system size on the fuel economy of a hybrid electric vehicle and the important design criteria involved in the design of the energy storage system. Simulations carried out using ADVISOR software show that increase in battery capacity alone cannot improve the fuel economy.