Hierarchical energy management strategy considering switching schedule for a dual-mode hybrid electric vehicle

Energy management strategies are critical for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to improve fuel economy. To solve the dual-mode HEV energy management problem combined with switching schedule and power distribution, a hierarchical control strategy is proposed in this paper. The mode planning controller is twofold. First, the mode schedule is obtained according to the mode switch map and driving condition, then a switch hunting suppression algorithm is proposed to flatten the mode schedule through eliminating unnecessary switch. The proposed algorithm can reduce switch frequency while fuel consumption remains nearly unchanged. The power distribution controller receives the mode schedule and optimizes power distribution between the engine and battery based on the Radau pseudospectral knotting method (RPKM). Simulations are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed hierarchical control strategy. For the mode planning controller, as the flattening threshold value increases, the fuel consumption remains nearly unchanged, however, the switch frequency decreases significantly. For the power distribution controller, the fuel consumption obtained by RPKM is 4.29% higher than that of DP, while the elapsed time is reduced by 92.53%.