Design and cost optimization of electrified automotive powertrain

Abstract

Powertrain design is all about finding compromises between the different components. This is a multidisciplinary task that requires a good knowledge of the factors driving the cost and size of the components and how they interact with each other. For the exposed reason, this work firstly presents a methodology to estimate the size and cost of power electronics converters, electrical machines and mechanical transmissions. Cooperation with manufacturers are established in order to validate and calibrate the proposed models. Then, a powertrain optimization is carried out to identify the optimum rating of the components and the best suited powertrain layout for the application. As a case-study, the powertrain for a high-end electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) is optimized. Six different powertrain layouts are considered and the pros and cons of each concept are discussed. The results are quantified in terms of system's cost and energy consumption.