Optimal sizing and energy management of an electric vehicle powertrain equipped with two motors and multi-gear ratios

This paper aims to fully exploit the superior advantages in improving energy economy and dynamic performance of an electric vehicle powertrain equipped with two motors and multi-gear ratios. Considering the dependence of gear ratio selection on motor sizing, a two-loop optimization algorithm, combined by the global search method and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II, is proposed to find optimal motor sizes and transmission ratios. An energy management strategy with novel shift schedules based on the equivalent efficiency of two motors, current engaged gears, and driving conditions is then recommended. The energy management strategy also optimizes the torque allocation to two motors to minimize electricity consumption. Subject to the total of motor peak powers being constant, simulation results for a case study of urban bus show that the optimization of both motor sizes and gear ratios considerably enhances the energy efficiency of powertrain system. In comparison with a single-motor powertrain, optimal motor scales of larger than 0.42 and corresponding gear ratios reduce the electricity consumption significantly by 4.82-5.08%. Besides, the introduced energy management strategy with optimal shift schedules is proved to ensure comparably maximum efficiency while effectively preventing unnecessary and repeated gear changes.