Plug-In Hybrid Cars: Technology and Future Potential

Plug-In Hybrid Cars: Technology and Future Potential
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Plug-In Hybrid Cars: Technology and Future Potential
Plug-in hybrid cars are battery-powered and can use gasoline as well. In particular, it is the best vehicle for someone who wants an electric-powered car and is not ready to sacrifice the gas pump. The majority of people fearfully electric vehicles due to their driving range. If the car depletes its charge in the middle of a highway, it can be challenging to locate a charging station. Electric car charging stations are not common compared to gasoline refilling stations. A plug-in hybrid vehicle uses batteries that power an electric motor, and when the charge is depleted, it switches to gasoline, which powers the internal combustion engine (U.S. Department of Energy, 2022). The batteries of these cars are charged using special charging equipment and can as well be recharged through regenerative braking. The best thing about plug-in hybrid vehicles is that they use electric power first and switch to gasoline when the charge is almost depleted. The paper focuses on plug-in hybrid car technology and its future potential.
Figure 1
A Plug-in Hybrid Car.


Source: https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/how-do-plug-in-hybrid-electric-cars-work
Figure 1 above shows the primary components or parts of a plug-in hybrid car. The battery (auxiliary) is a low-voltage battery that provides electricity required in the car ignition. When the vehicle starts, the traction battery becomes fully engaged and powers all the accessories. The traction battery pack usually stores the electric power that the car uses to move from one place to another. Besides, a plug-in hybrid car has a charge port that a person can use to connect the vehicle to an external power supply to recharge the pack of the traction battery. The direct current (D.C.) converter is a crucial part that converts high-voltage D.C. into a low-voltage D.C., which the car needs to power its accessories and recharge its auxiliary battery (U.S. Department of Energy, 2022). The electric generator generates electric power from the vehicle's rotating wheels during braking, and that power is stored in the traction battery. An electric traction motor uses the traction battery power to drive the car's wheels. The internal combustion engine uses fuel injectors, and sparks plug to facilitate the burning of the gasoline, which generates power and sets the vehicle in motion. The exhaust system is where the gases from the engine generated during the combustion process exit. Another significant part is the power electronic controller, which manages the electrical energy from the traction battery and controls the electric traction motor speed to produce the torque. The thermal system is vital since it maintains the proper operating temperature of the engine, power electronics, electric motor, and other vehicle components (U.S. Department of Energy, 2022). The transmission converts the electric traction motor or engine's mechanical power to drive the vehicle's wheel. Consequently, these parts are essential and ensure that a plug-in hybrid car is fully functional.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are becoming more common not only in the United States of America (USA) but also in other parts of the world. For instance, in 2019, more than 2.5 million plug-in cars were sold worldwide. In the USA, more than 325,000 electric vehicles were sold, and about 25.8% were plug-in hybrid cars (Chakraborty, Hardman, & Tal, 2020). Currently, Tesla has significantly led to numerous people buying plug-in electric vehicles. Since many individuals are not ready to part with the gasoline engine, they prefer plug-in hybrid cars to fully electric or hybrid vehicles. People do not want inconveniences involved in using fully electric cars due to their lower mile coverage when fully charged. When it comes to plug-in hybrid vehicles, they can use gasoline when they deplete their charge and give the owner reliability since one can use the combustion engine until the person finds a place to recharge the car.
Plug-in hybrid vehicles have a significant potential to replace conventional cars. Specifically, these vehicles are well-matched to the driving habits of motorists (Bai et al., 2020). Many individuals want reliable cars that can move them from one place to another daily without being stranded on the road because they forgot to recharge at home and cannot easily get a charging station. Based on the National Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS), the mileage distribution for daily car users ranged from 10 to 60 in 1995. The majority of daily vehicle users cover approximately 48 kilometers (Simpson, 2006). The graph below from the NPTS depicts the daily mileage distribution for numerous motorists from the USA.
Figure 2
The Utility Factor Curve and Daily Mileage Distribution of the USA Motorists.


Source: /docs/fy07osti/40485.pdf
Based on Figure 2, the utility factor for a distance of 48 kilometers is around 40%. In that light, assuming that the plug-in hybrid vehicle is charged daily, it can displace conventional cars for an equivalent of about 40% vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) (Simpson, 2006). Specifically, the daily-mileage characteristic of plug-in hybrid cars portrays the potential of these vehicles in displacing conventional cars, which have slightly higher consumption. As a result, since plug-in hybrid vehicles use less gasoline when charged daily compared to the cars using the combustion engine entirely, there is a possibility that the former type of vehicle will be more common in the future.
Plug-in hybrid vehicles have a unique powertrain control strategy that facilitates their transmission efficiency. In particular, it comprises four primary elements, as indicated in the state-of-charge (SOC) engine power request shown below.


Notably, when the SOC becomes higher than t...