Design Methodology for Efficient Electrified Powertrains Applied to Customer Technical Need Identification 2024-01-2156

Radical greenhouse gases emissions reduction necessity is bringing deep evolution in mobility behaviors and is the core reason for a significant diversification of automotive powertrain technologies, making it more and more complex for customers to find the best suited technology. This paper proposes a customer-oriented approach that translates needs into technical requirements that can be used as choice guidelines. First, customers answer a small survey on their driving habits and the class of car they want. Real life driving cycles are then recorded, and Simulink simulations, based on lowest equivalent consumption calculations, allow to identify and size an ideal powertrain that can then become a benchmark for vehicle final selection. As a methodology development step, this paper focused on Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), and on two case studies: a customer driving in urban areas with a small city car, and another one who needs the space of a SUV for frequent highway trips, the former advised to choose a BEV with a small battery, the latter a FCEV. Investigation of more complex case studies would then only require enriching the inputs of the method, adding other architectures and other key choice parameters, such as the availability and cost of energy (charging station at work, H2 fueling stations nearby), total cost of ownership, and the availability of alternative mobility solutions for punctual transportation needs, still relying on the basic principles illustrated in this paper.