Switched Energy Management Strategy for Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle Based on Switch Network

Environmentally friendly and pollution-free fuel cell/lithium battery hybrid vehicles have received the attention of the community in recent years. It is imperative for fuel cell/lithium battery hybrid vehicles to use the energy management strategy (EMS) to distribute the output power of each power source to improve fuel economy and system life. In practical application, inconsistency of battery pack will lead to security hazard and capacity degradation. However, few EMS take the inconsistency of battery pack into account. Also, the current battery equalization strategy rarely discusses how to perform the equilibrium process while meeting the power demand of vehicle. To solve these issues, a novel equalization energy management strategy (EEMS) based on the switch network is proposed at first. Then, a switched energy management strategy (SEMS) that switches between the EEMS and the equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) is proposed and implemented in the fuel cell/lithium battery hybrid system to validate its effectiveness. The results show that the proposed SEMS can ameliorate the inconsistency of series lithium battery pack while meeting the power demand of vehicle’s normal operation. It can improve the safety and durability of the system and reduce the equalization time. Besides, it has good expansibility and no energy waste.