Digital twin of a hydrogen Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicle: Effect of the control strategy on energy efficiency

Decarbonization will allow the automotive sector to achieve net-zero greenhouse gases emissions. Electric and hydrogen vehicles will contribute to that final target. Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicles FCHEVs aim at solving some of the issues of the otherwise standalone options: higher range in comparison with Battery Electric Vehicles, and allowing the fuel cell to be downsized, operated at greater efficiency, and less exposed to degradation. In this paper, a FCHEV Digital Twin DT is proposed to characterize the vehicle behavior during the WLTP driving cycle with accurate modeling of the auxiliary systems. Two control strategies, Range Extender and optimized Fuzzy logic control, are compared to show the impact on the vehicle and components performance and highlight the impact, energy-wise, of such systems in the Balance of Plant. Increased range by nearly 30 km is demonstrated while simultaneously limiting load stresses on the battery pack.