Least costly energy management for extended-range electric vehicles: An economic optimization framework

In this work, the energy management strategy problem for extended-range electric vehicles is tackled by considering all the factors affecting the system costs and performance, ranging from traditional fuel consumption to noise emissions up to battery aging and engine start-up costs. To solve the resulting economic optimization problem, a control-oriented model of the powertrain is first derived focusing on power generation, thermal dynamics and noise emissions. Then, the energy management strategy problem is formally stated as a mixed-integer convex program involving all the costs of interest and solved with state-of-the-art optimization tools. The optimal strategy can be used as a benchmark for real-time controls, to understand whether to purchase a range extender is economically effective, or to assess the cost of operating the vehicle. An electric bus case-study is illustrated in detail to show the potential of the proposed approach.