Energy Management Strategy in Electric Buses for Public Transport using ECO-driving

Energy management strategy is a critical aspect in electric vehicles to increase driving range, minimize costs, and extend battery life. In electric bus drivetrains, energy management strategy can be utilized to optimize operation of auxiliary systems, charging systems, and the operation of the electric powertrain. The electric powertrain is composed of several components linked in series, each having their own optimum band of operation. The paper studies various strategies to actuate the electric motor complemented with appropriate gearbox ratios to maximize the efficiency of the propulsion energy transmission, maintain vehicle speed and acceleration constraints, and electric motor angular speed and torque constraints. This paper also proposes an ECO friendly velocity profile based on smooth velocity changes, and limitations in top speed and acceleration to reduce energy consumption and using regenerative braking to recover energy. Results show that bang-bang actuation styles have less optimal energy utilization; however, maximum power actuation style can recover the most energy from braking.