What's the Deal with Hybrid and Electric Vehicles?

An IAP Class by Members of the MIT Electric Vehicle Team

Hybrid vehicles such as Toyota Prius have captured the headlines with their promise of providing the same level of comfort while drastically improving fuel economy. Next generation vehicles such as Chevrolet Volt will further increase electricity portion of the car while reducing the size and the need for the gasoline engine. In this class, we will go over the basics of technology of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. We will also cover some fun vehicles, such as Tesla Roadster, an all-electric sports car which can travel 244 miles on a single charge and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, and our own Porsche 914, an all-electric conversion project by MIT Electric Vehicle team. Topics such as powertrain choices, battery technology, rapid charging and vehicle conversions will be covered.

Details

Dates: Tuesday, Jan 20^nd and Thursday, Jan 22^nd 2009
Time: 12:30 - 2:00
Location: 1-134

Contact
Mike Khusid: mkhusid[@]mit.edu
Irene Berry: iberry[@]mit.edu
Manolis Kasseris: kasseris[@]mit.edu

Class Slides

Day 1: Introduction to Electric Vehicles

Classifications of EVs and HEVs

EV Issues and Terminology

Batteries for EVs

Electric Motors for EVs

Day 2: An In-depth Look at Electric Powertrains

Micro, Mild, Full, and Plug-in Hybrids

EV and PHEV Conversions

Policies and Initiatives for EVs

Recommended Reading

"The Book"

Mehrdad Ehsani, Yimin Gao, Sebastien E. Gay, and Ali Emadi (2004), Modern Electric, Hybrid Electric, and Fuel Cell Vehicles: Fundamentals, Theory, and Design, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Dec. 2004.

Reports from the Sloan Automotive Lab

Emmanuel Kasseris(2006), Comparative analysis of automotive powertrain choices for the near to mid-term future, MS Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Anup Bandivadekar and John Heywood (2006), Coordinated Policy Measures for Reducing the Fuel Consumption of the U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Fleet, MS Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Matthew A. Kromer and John B. Heywood (2007) Electric Powertrains: Opportunities and Challenges in the US Light-Duty Vehicle Fleet (LFEE 2007-03 RP)

Chris Evans (2008), Putting Policy in Drive: Coordinating Measures to Reduce Fuel Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Light-Duty Vehicles, MS Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Anup Bandivadekar (2008), Evaluating the Impact of Advanced Vehicle and Fuel Technologies in U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Fleet, PhD thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

SAE Papers on Hybrid and Electric Powertrains

Hirohisa Ogawa, Masato Matsuki, and Takahiro Eguchi (2003), Development of a Power Train for the Hybrid Automobile-The Civic Hybrid, SAE 2003-01-0083.

Michael Duoba, Henry K. Ng, and Robert P. Larsen (2001), Characterization and Comparison of Two Hybrid Electric Vehicles (Hevs)-- Honda Insight and Toyota Prius, SAE 2001-01-1335.

Koichiro Muta, Makoto Yamazaki, and Junji Tokieda (2004), Development of New-Generation Hybrid System Ths Ii-Drastic Improvement of Power Performance and Fuel Economy, SAE 2004-01-0064.

To access SAE papers (with MIT personal certificate only)

EV Fuel Economy

Petroleum-Equivalent Fuel Economy Calculation; Final Rule; Federal Register 10:474 (12 June 2000) p. 36986.

+ Federal rule on how EV "fuel economy" is calculated and used in CAFE

MIT Electric Vehicle Team (2008),Gasoline-equivalent fuel economy

+ Summary document, specific for EVs

Jeffrey Gonder and Andrew Simpson (2007), Measuring and Reporting Fuel Economy of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles

+ From the National Renewable Energy Lab

Batteries - Links

Woodbank Communications Ltd (2005), Battery and Energy Technologies

+ battery and energy technology, battery applications, chargers and ancillary equipment

HybridCars.com (2008), The Hybrid Car Battery: A Definitive Guide

+ battery packs from today's hybrids and discusses Li-ion chemstries for tomorrow's

Battery University (2005), What's the best battery?

+ battery chemistries, battery choices, and ways to make your battery last longer

Forbes (2008), Jump Start

+ discusses different Li-ion types, makers, and vehicles

Batteries - Reports

Fritz R. Kalhammer, Bruce M. Kopf, David H. Swan, Vernon P. Roan, and Michael P. Walsh, (2007) Status and Prospects for Zero Emissions Vehicle Technology: Report of the ARB Independent Expert Panel 2007

+ includes the Ragone plot of specific power vs. specific energy

Axsen, Jonn, Andrew F. Burke, Kenneth S. Kurani (2008) Batteries for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs): Goals and the State of Technology circa 2008. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-08-14

+ Recent (May 2008) assessment of battery technologies, specific for PHEVs-->