Efficient energy usage of electric vehicles (EVs) is an important concern, especially in relation to the use of battery energy. This paper presents a strategy to make the use of battery energy more economical by employing a new modeling approach. One of the existing EV models, called the motor-vehicle model, considers the motor and the longitudinal vehicle dynamics. In this study, the motor-vehicle model is further simplified by ignoring the drag force, which will be referred to as the simple model. In addition, we propose a new approach of EV modeling by including the battery dynamics into a motor-vehicle model and taking into account the drag force. This model is named the Integrated Battery-Electric Vehicle (IBEV) model. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed model, controllers are designed using linear quadratic integral (LQI) control. Each controller is designed for several test cases based on a linearized integrated model, after which specific test cases are carried out on a nonlinear IBEV model. From these models, the energy consumption is analyzed based on several performance indices under a number of combinations of settings, i.e. battery type (lithium-ion or lead-acid battery) and shaft model (rigid or flexible shaft). Further, an LQI controller with a Kalman filter is designed and its performance is compared to LQI controllers with 4th and 5th order Luenberger observers. The simulation results shows that the use of IBEV model reduces energy consumption compared to the use of simple model in controller design, and that the LQI controller with Kalman filter can reduce the noise effect and is more economical than the controllers with other observers.

A composite container for an electric vehicle (EV) battery module filled with a phase-change material (PCM) was experimentally tested at various discharge rates. The average cell temperatures at 1 C, 2 C, and 4 C discharge rates, respectively, might reach 38 °C, 50 °C, and 70 °C in the absence of any heat-absorbing material. The temperature was noticeably lower with PCM present than with a conventional battery module. For instance, at 4 C discharge rates, none of the battery cells inside the PCM-filled module were able to reach 70 °C. Unfortunately, the PCM addition also degraded the composite’s tensile qualities. Further investigations used Paraffin-20 and Caprylone since PCMs provide a notably different thermal performance due to their distinctive latent heat profiles. It was observed that a high melting temperature of the paraffin mixture, despite its slightly lower latent heat capacity compared to Caprylone, could lead to a more uniform temperature. Overall, both PCMs can be used as passive protection against any potential thermal abuses in EV battery modules, while in terms of mechanical strength, the use of a composite reinforcement material is strongly encouraged.

Steer-by-wire (SbW) is the latest steering evolution, providing many benefits, such as reduced vehicle weight and enhanced steering capability. While reliability is one of the main concerns hindering its widespread application, the potential of this technology to revolutionize the automotive industry is huge. Control techniques play an important part in achieving the full potential of SbW by focusing on the development of its performance and safety aspects. This paper provides a review of the control techniques that are being used in SbW technology to achieve better performance and enhance safety. Various control techniques for SbW exist to serve different purposes when dealing with the non-linear nature of the SbW dynamics. Although there is no one-size-fits-all control technique for all the requirements of the SbW, this study highlights that the non-linear controllers based on the sliding mode control (SMC) are a popular option for enhancing the accuracy of SbW systems. However, these controllers often suffer from a downside known as chattering. In contrast, robust controllers like Model Predictive Controllers (MPCs) can effectively manage uncertain dynamics and eliminate chattering, although they pose challenges due to their high computational costs.

Energy-efficient system is very desirable in an electric vehicle. Having energy-efficient control systems in the vehicle should be advantageous in this regard. This paper presents an integrated battery-electric vehicle model to capture battery dynamics. In order to evaluate the usefulness of the model for having energy-efficient system, a linear quadratic integral (LQI) control of the vehicle's speed has been designed. Simulations have been performed with observations on an energy consumption formulation. The simulations show that the use of the integrated battery model in the control system design may result in more energy-efficient system in an electric vehicle application.

This paper validates the advantage of using an integrated electric vehicle-battery model in torque control application. In the integrated electric vehicle-battery model, battery dynamics is explicitly included in the model. A well-known linear quadratic integral (LQI) design is adopted here to have an optimal controller with zero tracking error. The energy consumption is, however, observed through several energy consumption formulations. The performance index of the LQI is set to include input-state multiplication, i.e. representing one usual form of energy formulation. The controller designs are performed using linearized model of the integrated electric vehicle-battery model. By applying the linear LQI control to the non-linear integrated electric vehicle battery model, simulations are then taken. The simulation result shows that torque motor control with the inclusion of input-state multiplication in the LQI's performance index present a more energy efficient control in comparison to LQI design without such inclusion in its performance index. This may lead to a potential use of integrated electric vehicle battery model to have an efficient battery usage in controlling an electric vehicle.