Evaluating Plug-In Series Hybrid Designs for Postal Delivery Vehicles

The College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan Dearborn is helping to meet the growing need for more fuel-efficient vehicles with an interdisciplinary program leading to a master's degree in Automotive Systems Engineering.
 
As part of this program, Robert Myers and John Longnecker, with faculty advisor Dr. Chris Mi, conducted a study to determine the feasibility of using plug-in series hybrid technology to extend the range of electric vehicles used by the United States Postal Service (USPS).
 
In this article, Myers describes how he and Longnecker modeled and simulated the vehicle, its powertrain, and its control systems with physical modeling tools from The MathWorks, an approach that enabled them to focus on crucial design tradeoffs without becoming mired in low-level mathematical equations, and without building costly prototypes.
 
By Robert Myers, University of Michigan,Dearborn
 
This article appeared in the MATLAB Digest| Academic Edition