Bridging the gap between laboratory ready and consumer ready next generation plug-in hybrid electric powertrains

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General Motors of Canada Limited (GM) and University of Waterloo (UW) will investigate two important aspects of vehicle design: (i) the effect of real-world driving habits on powertrain design, and (ii) investigation of the differences between the laboratories based design to consumer ready vehicle execution. To support these research topics, UW will convert an existing, production GM vehicle into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, which will act as a fully customizable vehicle test bed. This project will also give students unique hands-on-learning and expose students to industry grade tools and processes. The first topic relates to the influence of drive cycles on vehicle design. Traditionally OEMs use government provided drive cycles to design their vehicles; by collaborating with GM and CrossChasm, real-world driving habits will be captured and examined. The impact of real-world driving habits and weather on vehicle's powertrain design and fuel consumption will be evaluated. By understanding the real-world factors which can influence vehicle design, GM will be able to better design their vehicle's to meet consumer needs. Canadians will benefit by having vehicles which consume less fuel and which are tailored to our unique landscape and climate. The second research topic will aid GM in better understanding the vehicle design process and resources required to move from a laboratory setting to a consumer ready quality. An area of interest is the battery thermal model, will be developed under laboratory conditions and be compared to the actual thermal performance on road. Other areas of interest include the drivability (how smoothly the car operates) of a research vehicle compared to a refined consumer vehicle. An additional study will measure the resources needed to migrate vehicle control code from the laboratory to a vehicle. With this information GM will be able to quantify the costs of migrating concepts from the laboratory to on-road vehicles. The benefit to Canadians are vehicles designed to provide reduced costs, reduced emissions, and better performance, thanks to more accurate battery, engine, and motor models designed for all climates.