COMPARATIVE COST-BASED ANALYSIS OF A NOVEL PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE WITH CONVENTIONAL AND HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Hybrid electric vehicles provide higher fuel efficiency and lower emissions through the combination of the conventional internal combustion engine with electric machines. This paper analyzes and compares two types of hybrid electric powertrain with a conventional vehicle powertrain to study the lifetime costs of these vehicles. The novelty of the University of Technology Sydney plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (UTS PHEV) arises through a special power-splitting device and energy management strategy. The UTS PHEV and comparative powertrains are studied through numerical simulations to determine fuel consumption for the proposed low and high congestion drive cycles. Satisfactory results are achieved in terms of fuel economy, the all-electric range and electrical energy consumption for the UTS PHEV powertrain, providing significant improvement over the alternative powertrains. The analysis of these vehicles is extended to include a cost-based analysis of each powertrain in order to estimate the total lifetime costs at different fuel prices. The results obtained from this analysis demonstrate that whilst the conventional powertrain is cheaper in terms of purchase and maintenance costs, both alternative configurations are more cost-effective overall as the average price of fuel increases.