Battery, Ultracapacitor, Fuel Cell, and Hybrid Energy Storage Systems for Electric, Hybrid Electric, Fuel Cell, and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles: State of the Art

TLDR

The fuel economy and all‑electric range of hybrid electric vehicles depend critically on the onboard energy‑storage system, which must deliver high peak power while maintaining energy density, and hybrid configurations of batteries, ultracapacitors, and fuel cells are being explored to meet these demands. This paper reviews state‑of‑the‑art energy‑storage topologies for HEVs and PHEVs, comparing battery, ultracapacitor, and fuel‑cell technologies and their hybrid combinations.

Abstract

The fuel economy and all-electric range (AER) of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are highly dependent on the onboard energy-storage system (ESS) of the vehicle. Energy-storage devices charge during low power demands and discharge during high power demands, acting as catalysts to provide energy boost. Batteries are the primary energy-storage devices in ground vehicles. Increasing the AER of vehicles by 15% almost doubles the incremental cost of the ESS. This is due to the fact that the ESS of HEVs requires higher peak power while preserving high energy density. Ultracapacitors (UCs) are the options with higher power densities in comparison with batteries. A hybrid ESS composed of batteries, UCs, and/or fuel cells (FCs) could be a more appropriate option for advanced hybrid vehicular ESSs. This paper presents state-of-the-art energy-storage topologies for HEVs and plug-in HEVs (PHEVs). Battery, UC, and FC technologies are discussed and compared in this paper. In addition, various hybrid ESSs that combine two or more storage devices are addressed.