Optimal control strategy of ultra-capacitors in hybrid energy storage system for electric vehicles

Abstract This paper describes a novel Energy Management Strategy (EMS) for hybrid energy storage systems, when used to supply urban electric vehicles. A preliminary off-line procedure, based on nonlinear programming, is performed in order to optimize the battery current profile for fixed working cycles. Hence, a suitable control strategy, which is based on a constrained minimization problem, is tailored for real-time applications. This control strategy exploits the off-line solution of a proper isoperimetric problem and aims to dynamically optimize the battery durability by reducing peak charging/discharging current values. The main advantage of the analysed EMS consists in the easy on-board implementation through the use of one single parameter, which can be quickly identified through a simple off-line numerical procedure. The proposed strategy is evaluated in simulation environment, through the use of a Matlab-Simulink model, for the case study of an urban electric vehicle running on a ECE 15 driving cycles. Simulation results have confirmed the good performance of the above strategy in reducing the battery peak charging/discharging current through the proper management of the hybrid energy storage system.