Abstract
Looking at the vehicle concepts of today it becomes obvious that a broad spectrum of different drive technologies, vehicle and fuel concepts is considered as high potential. But based on the current state of technological maturity no decision of tomorrow´s vehicle concept is to be expected in the near future. Considering all these different scenarios a high demand for electrified components - nearly independent of the chosen scenario - can be deduced. This situation arises on one hand due to the fact that the application of an electric motor for (partial) propulsion needs also ICE-independent auxiliaries, on the other hand the electrification of the components allows for an increased efficiency of the ICE and therefore a significant reduction of fuel demand.
Therefore electric components and energy storage systems are key components of alternative vehicle concepts. The design and development of efficient, compact and intelligent components are essential for the realisation of optimized vehicles. In this context arsenal research has established a development environment and infrastructure for intelligent electric drive technologies which supports the realisation of different innovative vehicle concepts. Focusing on the optimization of the entire system all aspects and components of electric drive technologies are considered and developed. The development competences comprise the complete development chain of electric drives from simulation of the entire vehicle and its relevant components, design of electric machines and energy storages up to concepts for embedded control and intelligent energy management. The fields of application are manifold - from development of intelligent electric auxiliaries and the design of high performance energy storages up to hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.
In this paper special emphasis is given to the methods and tools used to develop efficient and intelligent components designed to meet the real requirements of the vehicle. Therefore the paper focuses on the one hand on the vehicle simulation and the results obtained. On the other hand the modelling and design of energy storage systems as well as the development of an appropriate battery management are discussed and current research results presented.
Keywords:electric drives, alternative drive technologies, electric auxiliaries, energy storage, vehicle simulation