On-line Optimal Control of the Gearshift Command for Multispeed Electric Vehicles

A design method for the gearshift strategy in powertrain systems is proposed to explore the energy saving potential of an electric vehicle (EV) equipped with a multispeed automated manual transmission (AMT). The optimal gearshift schedule is obtained by solving a nonlinear time-varying optimal problem in the framework of model predictive control, wherein, the vehicle driveability, represented by the driver's power demand satisfaction, and battery efficiency are considered. The solution approach is developed basing on the combination of Pontryagin's minimum principle and numerical methods, in addition to the real-time applications. Simulation results for a passenger EV with four-speed AMT on different drive cycles show that compared with the case of a standard gearshift strategy, an additional fuel saving can reach 3–5% and even more when considering road characteristic such as road slope. Furthermore, hardware in the Loop simulation for experimental validation is also given in this paper. Results indicate that both energy efficiency and computational speed are improved.