Not Just for Fuel Economy: A Systematic Design and Exhaustive Search for Hybrid Multimode Light Trucks

The Planetary Gear (PG) system has been widely employed by power-split hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The use of a PG system can enable multiple operating modes through the addition of clutches, as in the Chevrolet Volt. Besides passenger vehicles, the multi-mode hybrid powertrain can also be beneficial to heavy duty vehicles like pick-up trucks, since the benefits of each individual mode can be combined to meet complex driving requirement while maintaining desirable fuel economy. In this paper, a systematic design methodology is adopted for a hybrid pickup design problem using a PG system. This method involves automated modeling, a drivability screening procedure and the development of optimal energy management strategy. The design candidates are compared with the conventional F150 MY2012 and its conceptual parallel hybrid version using the same transmission and engine but an additional 60kW electric motor. The results show that after a search through over one million design candidates, 464 designs can achieve better performance on both fuel economy and launching, than not only the conventional F150, but also the parallel benchmark.