Model Predictive Heating Control for Electric Vehicles Using Load Prediction and Switched Actuators

Thermal management of electric vehicles in low-temperature environments poses an interesting control problem. While thermal control of the cabin is vital for passenger comfort, energy consumption and battery aging always remain an essential concern. Since more reliable information about the short-term future electrical power flow is becoming available by more sophisticated cruise control systems and map information, on-line model predictive thermal management systems can utilize this knowledge to improve battery life maintaining passenger comfort. In this contribution, such a model predictive heating control is proposed based on an on-board capable fast gradient method to solve the nonlinear optimization problem. Direct control of simple electronic switches by the proposed method reduces the need for dedicated PWM controllers embedded within the heating actuators and allows for a cost-efficient and easy realization.