Development of regeneration braking model for electric vehicle range improvement

Electric vehicle range improvement is one of the key research areas, which aims to make the electric vehicle more attractive. The regeneration of the energy improves the electric vehicle range compared to the vehicle that doesn't. The vehicle regeneration percentage is highly influenced by the number of factors such as methods of braking, type of strategy, hardware used, operating drive cycle and the control strategy etc. For the initial study, an electric Light Commercial Vehicle with parallel regeneration control strategy is tested on track with the typical test drive cycles. The test results are used to create the high-fidelity vehicle regeneration model in the MATLAB /Simulink environment. The sub-modules for the other improvement methods, such as series braking strategy, proactive coasting controls are developed and its improvement in the vehicle range is also studied. The model also predicts the percentage of regeneration based on user configurable modules selected for the control methodology and the driven cycle chosen. The comprehensive model is verified with the electric LCV test results for its fidelity in the standard drive cycles.