Kinematic state adaptive based novel powertrain for the next generation of vehicle electrification: Design optimization and simplification

Energy efficiency has become one of the major concerns that hinder the penetration of freight electric commercial vehicles (CEV), due to frequent and long-distance transportation tasks. However, how vehicle kinematic states would influence the energy requirement of a given journey and how design modifications might affect the energy conversion efficiency of CEV powertrains have not been comprehensively considered in the development phase of CEVs. This work presents a novel mechanism for saving required energy output by actively adapting differences in wheel speed and explores how modifications to powertrain design would shape the energy utilization within CEV powertrains. Correspondingly, a novel powertrain configuration for improving energy conversion efficiency and exploiting the energy-saving mechanism is proposed. Validation suggests a 54.8 % reduction in energy consumption of CEVs by the synergy of powertrain modifications and the novel energy-saving patterns, compared with the current CEV design. This result also opens the avenue for the next generation of CEVs.