Design of a drivetrain for a light urban electric vehicle powered by fuel cells

The paper illustrates the design guidelines for a drivetrain of a fuel cell light urban vehicle. The procedure starts from the mechanical and dynamic constraints and includes the sizing of the battery pack, the choice of the traction motors and the speed reduction gears. The design is validated by simulations, comparing two motor types. Although the induction motor has lower dynamical performances and higher losses, both drivetrains allow the use of a very limited battery pack ensuring at the same time a low state of discharge after one driving cycle. The energy consumptions and DC link voltage trends are compared for two driving cycles.