Efficiency modeling and analysis of power electronic converters and electric motor drives for parallel hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles

In recent years, the automotive industry has seriously started to look upon hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCV) as prospective advanced vehicular solutions to satisfy future market demands for higher fuel economy, lower emissions, and higher performance. A critical stage within typical HEV and FCV power systems includes the electric drive system. One of the most important objectives of this dissertation involves the formulation of a generalized efficiency modeling procedure for critical electric drive train components (traction motors and power electronic converters) for HEV propulsion applications. Such a detailed component-level efficiency analysis would prove to be a strong tool in evaluating the electric drive train behavior over time, for various driving (vehicle load) patterns.; One of the major issues surrounding the research and development work involving advanced vehicles is their overall well-to-wheels (WTW) analysis. The major idea behind such a WTW analysis is to present an overall comparison between HEVs and FCVs from the point of view of efficiency (of converting the input fuel into actual work at the wheels of the vehicle), fuel economy for city and highway driving conditions (in miles per gallon), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (in grams/mile), and performance parameters such as acceleration and energy consumption. The WTW efficiency comparison for HEVs and FCVs is the analysis of their respective well-to-tank (WTT) and tank-to-wheels (TTW) values, the product of which reveals the final WTW value.; Finally, this dissertation aims at presenting the critical issues with regards to overall efficiencies, fuel economies, performance parameters, and GHG emissions of hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles. Based on the simulations and analytical studies conducted in this research, HEVs are proven to be a much more commercially viable option compared to FCVs. In addition, the research studies also reveal major market penetration barriers for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and FCVs. Finally, the projected automotive technology trends that can be expected for commercial applications can be summarized based on the broad comparative evaluations.