Energy-management system for a hybrid electric vehicle, using ultracapacitors and neural networks

A very efficient energy-management system for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), using neural networks (NNs), was developed and tested. The system minimizes the energy requirement of the vehicle and can work with different primary power sources like fuel cells, microturbines, zinc-air batteries, or other power supplies with a poor ability to recover energy from a regenerative braking, or with a scarce power capacity for a fast acceleration. The experimental HEV uses lead-acid batteries, an ultracapacitor (UCAP) bank, and a brushless dc motor with nominal power of 32 kW, and a peak power of 53 kW. The digital signal processor (DSP) control system measures and stores the following parameters: primary-source…