Energy Management Strategy Considering Fuel Economy and Life of Fuel Cell for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles

Abstract

The optimization of energy management strategy (EMS) for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) is mainly applied to reduce fuel consumption. However, serious power fluctuations affect the durability of the fuel cell, which is still a challenge for the FCEV. In order to optimize the fuel cell’s service life and economy, this paper proposes an EMS scheme based on fuzzy control. In the proposed EMS, the first layer uses the power following strategy to address the output power distribution issue between the battery and the fuel cell. In order to limit the rapid shift in fuel cell power, the second layer employs a fuzzy control method. Considering the variety of constraints, such as fuel cell power fluctuation and hydrogen consumption, the particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to optimize the membership function of the fuzzy controller. The performance and the operating characteristics of the fuel cells are then evaluated using a test bench. Afterward, the proposed EMS is verified by AMEsim joint simulation. The optimized strategy increased the driving range by 4.7% and 5.9% in world light vehicle test cycle (WLTC) and new European driving cycle (NEDC) conditions, respectively. It also reduces the fuel cell degradation by 21.4% and 19.8%.