Abstract:

Although plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (pHEVs) can be considered a powerful technology to promote the change from conventional mobility to e-mobility, their real benefits, in terms of CO2 emissions, depend to a great extent on the average efficiency of their Internal Combustion Engine and on the energy source mix which is used to supply the electrical demand of pHEV. This article has the purpose of assessing, through numerical simulations, the effects of different technology mixes used to produce electrical energy for the battery recharging, of different Internal Combustion Engines on the pHEV performance, and highlighting the main differences with respect to the regulatory test procedure. This article presents an overview of the effects of some optimization parameters on the performance of a case study pHEV featuring a series architecture and highlights the gap between the real CO2 emissions of the vehicle and the values obtained with the calculation procedure prescribed by the European regulation.