Powerful Multilevel Simulation Tool for HiL Analysis of Urban Electric Vehicle’s Propulsion Systems

The general focus of the proposed chapter is to describe a complex yet transparent solution for advanced simulation analysis of urban electric vehicles propulsion unit. As general rule, precise and realistic results are obtained only when performing real-time simulations, engaging dedicated software for such applications. Hence, simulation of an electric vehicle as a complete solution can become rather difficult. The authors targeted advanced analysis of the propulsion unit, including the motor, the battery, the power converter, and its control. These are designed using multilevel models in Matlab/Simulink, referring to different complexity levels of each assembly. Another feature of the models is their organization, based on Energetic Macroscopic Representation (EMR), this easing the process of inter-connecting models correctly. Nevertheless, the mechanical, aerodynamical and road profile details are included using Amesim Software. All the simulations are performed on a real-time target, using a National Instruments PXIe embedded controller. The latter runs NI VeriStand software, allowing real-time communication between Amesim and Simulink offering in the same time possibility to read/write analog/digital IOs for external communication. This feature in fact is used when passing from modeling to Hardware in the Loop (HIL) analysis, replacing the simulated assembly with the actual one