| While the era of cheap energy is coming to an end, the gap between supply and demand continues to grow around the world. Experts continue to estimate that the world's peak oil production will occur within this decade and the end of oil production will occur within this century. In order to delay the arrival of the post-oil era and to ensure the sustainability of society, it is necessary to reduce, if not eliminate, the dependence of one of oil's major consumers---transportation. While electric vehicles eliminate fuel consumption, they have not been widely accepted because of their performance in comparison to conventional vehicles. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) bridge this gap by introducing an electric motor to reduce fuel consumption and maintaining the use of the internal combustion engine to offer comparable performance. This thesis proposes an energy management controller that guides the operation of multiple energy sources to ensure that the objective, fuel efficiency is achieved. The controller implements load leveling techniques using crisp rules and the results are compared with two other controllers. The energy management controller is tested on various hybrid electric vehicles, including dual motors and a hybrid electrical energy storage system. It was found that the second motor negates the improvements achieved by a vehicle with a single motor. The hybrid electrical energy storage system connected through a power selector switch demonstrated further improvements; however, given the current costs of electrical energy storage technologies, these improvements do not justify the implementation of a second energy storage system. |
