Real-Time Dynamic Optimal Power Flow in Electric Vehicles Considering the Lifetime of the Components in the E-Powertrain

TL;DR

This paper proposes a real-time optimal power flow method for electric vehicle e-powertrains that considers component lifetime and efficiency to enhance longevity and driving range.

Contribution

It introduces a dynamic OPF approach that optimally allocates power among energy sources and devices while accounting for component lifetime and efficiency.

Findings

Optimized power sharing extends component lifespan.

Reduced energy loss improves vehicle range.

Real-time implementation feasible for e-powertrain control.

Abstract

Different types of energy sources (e.g., batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells) can be utilized in electric vehicles to store and provide energy in the e-powertrain through power electronic devices [1-6]. The lifetime of the components in the e-powertrain depends on their load profile [7,8]. For instance, the lifetime of a battery highly depends on the depth of discharge and the number of charge/discharge cycles [9-13]. The lifetime of an inverter mostly depends on the variations in the active-reactive power passing through it. This means that the expended life cost of the components can be decreased by allocating an optimal share of the total power to each energy source and power electronic device at an optimal time instance. In addition, the driving range of a vehicle can be prolonged by decreasing the energy loss i.e., operating the components in their high-efficiency region. Therefore, it is necessary to perform Optimal Power Flow (OPF) in the operation of the e-powertrain.