3.2. Testing of Hybrid and VSP Vehicle Models in RDE, NEDC and WLTC Driving Cycles
Both hybrid models were tested and compared using standard cycles, the RDE cycle which is identical to the already performed measurement, the NEDC cycle which is outdated by today's standards and in the WLTC cycle which has gradually replaced NEDC. The CruiseM model is optimized based on set of simple rules described with global objective function. The VSP model works in the frequency domain, so it does not have the possibility of real-time optimization, but the same rules can be used to compare these two models. In this case, the primary goal is to compare the two models so that the VSP frequency model follows the conditions of the CruiseM model. The objective function is minimization of CO
2 emissions or consumption, so the optimization prefers medium and higher power classes in which the internal combustion engine works more efficiently. On the other hand, the highest classes generate high NOx emissions, which in this case are not penalized because they are not covered by the objective function (14). The distribution of traction energy, emissions, and consumption for the hybrid vehicle under the RDE cycle is graphically depicted in
Figure 8A using a bar chart.
All emissions and energy shares are expressed relative to the emissions of a non-hybrid vehicle and to the positive traction energy of each cycle respectively. Classes 1 and 2 have a negative traction power where any engine operation is generally unnecessary, but regenerative braking is possible. The internal combustion engine remains switched on in class 2 only 1.92% of the time,
Figure 8B, consuming 0.2% of the total traction energy,
Figure 8A. This small amount of energy consumption is not the most optimal solution from an energy point of view, but it is a consequence of replicating the energy management strategy of the CruiseM model.
Class 3 represents the lowest values of positive traction power with a mean power of 1.1kW,
Figure 8C. This engine operating region is very inefficient, so the goal is to completely eliminate the engine's work and replace that energy with stored regenerative braking energy. The engine remained in operation for only 1.28% compared to 11.3% of the total operation time of the non-hybrid vehicle,
Figure 8B and generated 0.2% of the total traction energy,
Figure 8A, the same as in the CruiseM model. In class 3, the vehicle emits 0.4% instead of the initial 3.5% of CO
2 emissions and 0.3% of NOx emissions instead of the initial 2.3%.
Class 4 has a slightly higher average power of 6.9kW, but still deep in the inefficient region in terms of consumption and CO
2 emissions. With a hybrid drive, it would be desirable to completely eliminate the operation of the engine in this region as well, but the engine remains on for 3.6% of the total driving time,
Figure 8B generating 3.1% of the total traction energy. Class 4 contains 32.2% of the total traction energy, where 8.7% of energy was gained from regenerative braking. The remaining 20.4% was obtained by moving the operating region of the engine to a more efficient class 6. Of the 20.4% of the mentioned energy, 9.6% was obtained directly from the internal combustion engine operating in a higher class and this is marked in
Figure 8A as Moving Operating Point Direct (MOPD), while 10.8% is obtained from stored energy from the battery, which is generated as excess engine energy gained from moving engine operating point, marked on the graph as Moving Operating Point Stored (MOPS). Considering the time shares of individual classes,
Figure 8C, the engine works only 3.6% of the time with the power of the original class, 10.9% of the time it works with the average power of the preferred 6th class, and in the remaining time the vehicle is powered by energy from the battery, 9.9% from regenerative braking and 12.3% from MOPS. In class 4, the vehicle emits 3.3% instead of the initial 34.3% of CO
2 emissions and 1.7% of NOx emissions instead of the initial 17.1%.
In class 5, 20.5% of the energy comes from the internal combustion engine, while the rest of 13.4% is used from the battery and gained through MOPS. The engine generates 18% of CO2 emissions instead of the initial 29.7% and 12.9% of NOx emissions instead of the initial 21.3%. Class 6 is the preferred considering engine efficiency, so the share of internal combustion engine energy increases in favor of other classes from 23.3% to 71.7% of the total initial traction energy. At the same time, CO2 emissions of class 6 increase from 19.3% to 29.3% of initial total CO2 emissions, while NOx emissions increase from 31.1% to 95.6%.
Class 7 also belongs to the less efficient region, compared to class 6, and engine energy covers only 1.3% of the initial required 7.4%. This 1.3% of the traction energy also results from the CruiseM model energy management strategy. The total CO
2 emissions of the hybrid vehicle were reduced from 6.1% to 1%, while NOx emissions were reduced from 19.2% to 3.3%. The bar diagram in
Figure 10 shows the comparative results of the vehicle travelled distance for VSP and CruiseM models of hybrid and non-hybrid vehicles in RDE, NEDC and WLTP cycles. In contrast to
Table 3, where the deviations were expressed in relation to the measured values of the RDE cycle, the following bar diagrams show the deviations between the VSP and CruiseM models.
Figure 9.
Comparison of distances covered for different models and cycles.
Figure 9.
Comparison of distances covered for different models and cycles.
As before mentioned, the cause of the deviation between the two models lies in different modeling approaches, the VSP was created as a backward model that perfectly follows the given speed profile, while the deviation of the travelled distance of the CruiseM model is a consequence of the forward approach which includes the PI regulator in this case. Despite different approaches, the maximum deviation of the travelled distance is less than 0.7%, which is a more than acceptable result. In the RDE cycle, the travelled distance of both models deviates the most, -0.69% for the hybrid model, and -0.48% for the non-hybrid model. Better results were achieved with laboratory cycles compared to the RDE cycle. One of the important reasons is certainly the influence of altitude, which laboratory cycles do not have. In the NEDC cycle, the travelled distance of classic vehicles differs by 0.29% for a non-hybrid vehicle and 0.13% for a hybrid vehicle. The smallest deviations of 0.05% for the non-hybrid vehicle and 0.04% for the hybrid vehicle were recorded in the WLTP cycle. Although the deviations in the travelled distance are small, they were taken into account as a corrective factor when comparing other parameters. The bar graphs in
Figure 10 and
Figure 11 show the comparative results of positive and negative traction energies required for the vehicle to overcome the test driving cycles for different cycles. The differences that arise in the traction energies are also a consequence of the forward model, i.e. the settings of the PI regulator. The largest deviation of positive traction energy was recorded between RDE models of hybrid vehicles at 2.85%. Relative deviations of negative traction energies are significantly higher due to small absolute amounts, but the absolute amounts are small and acceptable considering the impact on emissions and consumption. The largest relative deviation of negative traction energies is shown by the non-hybrid vehicle model in the WLTP cycle of over 8%, but on an absolute scale only 0.07kWh.
The comparison of CO
2 emissions and fuel consumption is shown in the bar diagrams in
Figure 12 and
Figure 13. CO
2 emissions are expressed in absolute values i.e., in grams and corrected according to the travelled distance, while consumption is traditionally expressed in litres per 100 kilometres. The most significant deviations were recorded for the hybrid vehicle model in RDE conditions at 3.79% and for the non-hybrid vehicle model in the WLTP cycle at 4.4%. If we compare the results according to cycles, the NEDC cycle in both modelled vehicles, hybrid and classic, gives deviations slightly higher than 1%. The CruiseM model was used as a reference, but it is possible that this model also causes some deviations because it does not include transients.
The reason for the good overlap between the results of the NEDC cycle lies in the cycle itself, with constant accelerations where the classic CruiseM model which is based on consumption and emission maps approximates the real situation relatively well due to less influence of transient phenomena.
Since the vehicle is type approved according to the Euro 6b standard, which includes testing in laboratory conditions according to the NEDC cycle, it is possible to compare the results with the type approved values. The declared value of CO
2 emissions in the NEDC cycle for the tested vehicle is 102 g/km, while the value of CO
2 emissions of the modelled vehicle is slightly less than 111 g/km. A deviation of 8.8% was expected considering that the type approval procedure at that time was performed on the "golden vehicle" which gave significantly better results than the tested one. All these results of the hybrid models were achieved by following a strategy of the CruiseM model based on set of rules, but the best result achieved by optimizing the VSP hybrid model, without taking into account the CruiseM strategy, in terms of CO
2 emissions gives about 4% better results than those shown in
Figure 13, which would put this vehicle inside legal limit of 95g of CO
2 emissions in real conditions.
The absolute amounts and corrected deviations of NOx emissions of both models applied to different cycles are shown by a bar graph in
Figure 14. The deviations of NOx emissions are on average slightly higher than CO
2 emissions and fuel consumption primarily due to the larger possible deviations of the classic map-based CruiseM model that does not include transients. Transient phenomena in the assessment of NOx emissions have a greater impact due to the way NOx emissions are regulated through exhaust gas recirculation [
8].
The largest deviations of NOx emissions of 9.62% are shown with the hybrid vehicle models in the WLTP cycle, while the same models in the NEDC and RDE cycles show deviations slightly higher than 6%. Non-hybrid vehicle models in RDE, NEDC and WLTP conditions differ by 0.13%, 2.53% and 6.07%, respectively. Larger deviations in the WLTP cycle, especially in NOx emissions, are expected due to extremely dynamic driving.