Energy management in parallel hybrid electric vehicles exploiting an integrated multi-drives topology

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive study of an online energy management strategy devoted to hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) parallel drivetrains adopting an integrated multi-drives topology to interface a multi winding induction machine with the on-board hybrid storage units. This solution is designed to allow multi-directional power flows among the storage units and the drivetrain. Basically, the proposed efficiency optimization method continuously searches for the best compromise between the torque demand, system efficiency and power capability of each storage unit. The considered electric drive configuration allows to effectively and independently handle the power flowing in storage units featuring different sizes and DC voltages, while improving the overall reliability. A good agreement between simulations and experimental results is achieved.