An Optimal Energy Management Strategy for Power-Split Hybrid Electric Vehicles

The paper deals with a particular application of the optimal control theory in the formulation of an energy management strategy oriented to the minimization of the fuel consumption and pollutant emissions in a well known commercial vehicle; specifically, the Toyota® Prius NHW10 model has been considered as a case study. The results of the suggested strategy show a reduction of 3.6% in fuel use and much more in emissions. The same strategy could be applied for other hybrid architectures (in power-split or parallel configuration), for minimizing both fuel consumption and emissions.