Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5
Electric Vehicles in Hybrid Configuration
While hybrid thermal electric vehicles (HTEV) are emerging as a viable option to
improve efficiency and environmental impact of private cars, the alternative of
pure electric vehicles have been always considered with the aim of decoupling the
use of oil from transportation sector assuring zero local emissions [
1
]. However,
the limitations of electric vehicles equipped with traditional energy storage sys-
tems, essentially vehicle range and battery recharging time, justify the strong
research interest towards new solutions based on the hybridization of basic electric
vehicles by adding other energy storage devices and electric power generators on
board. In this context, fuel cells are the prime candidates, thanks to their high
efficiency and capability to use hydrogen as fuel without generating pollutant
emissions [
2
].
The utilization of fuel cells in propulsion systems for road transport applica-
tions raises the question of the optimal hybridization level between on board
generation and storage of electric energy (batteries, supercapacitors).
The main issues of hybrid propulsion systems are discussed in this chapter,
drawing attention to basic characteristics of power train components and aspects of
energy management within each hybrid configuration. The main characteristics of
electric drives are described in
Sect. 5.2
, different types of electric energy storage
systems are analyzed in
Sect. 5.3
and
Sect. 5.4
, while different configurations of
hybrid electric vehicles are discussed in
Sect. 5.5
, with particular reference to fuel
cell propulsion systems (
Sect. 5.5.4
).
5.1 Electric Vehicles: Preliminary Remarks
After the invention of the first electric carriage by R. Anderson between 1832
and 1839, practical and more successful electric road vehicles were realized by
both T.
Davenport
and R. Davidson around 1842,
using
non-rechargeable
