User-oriented electric mobility
Increase in user acceptance through improved ranges of electric vehicles
Despite all the technical innovations, the sales figures for electric vehicles are far from sufficient to achieve the global climate targets. The main reasons for the low user acceptance are the high costs and the short range of electric vehicles. The range problem remains unresolved, in particular because of the not yet fully exploited efficiency potential in the electric drive train and an unreliable range forecast for the entire vehicle. The user-oriented electromobility (NEmo) research project examined the concept of variable intermediate circuit voltage to increase efficiency on the one hand, and measures to increase the precision of range forecasts on the other.
The concept of the variable intermediate circuit voltage was researched both model-based and prototypically with regard to its behavior in the combination of battery, power electronics and motor and compared with a static intermediate circuit voltage. In order to improve the range forecast, high-precision data from the driver, vehicle, powertrain and environment were linked to calculate the remaining range and their mutual dependencies investigated in simulation and testing. By using a variable intermediate circuit voltage, efficiency advantages of up to 2.8% were demonstrated on the test vehicle. With the help of the precise range prediction developed, remaining ranges could be estimated with an accuracy of up to 2.7% just a few seconds after the start of the journey. Both measures make a significant contribution to increasing the range.
From the lab to the public
The cooperation project user-oriented electromobility (NEmo) was funded by the Bavarian Research Foundation with around 446,000 € in the period 04/2016 – 03/2019. Within the project, extensive knowledge and further developments were achieved compared to the state of the art, which are recorded in a total of 17 scientific publications. In addition to the scientific publications, the NEmo project was presented to a broad specialist audience several times by the project partners at the “Conference on Future Automotive Technology” (CoFAT) organized by Bayern Innovativ and the Automotive Cluster. The findings of the research project will be used in follow-up projects in the future to better understand the systemic interrelationships of electric vehicles on long journeys and to leverage optimization potential in order to make electromobility more efficient and sustainable.