Advanced Power-Source Integration in Hybrid Electric Vehicles: Multicriteria Optimization Approach

System integration and power-flow control of on-board power sources are critical to the performance and cost competitiveness of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The existing methods mostly focus on fuel minimization in hybrid powertrains, while disregarding many other concerns. This article presents an innovative multicriteria optimization approach and showcases its validity and usefulness in a case study of a fuel-cell hybrid bus. Three key technical contributions are made. First, a convex multicriteria optimization framework is devised for quickly and efficiently evaluating the optimal tradeoffs between the fuel-cell durability and hydrogen economy in the bus, as well as the corresponding fuel-cell dimension. Second, the impact of driving pattern on both the optimal fuel-cell size and Pareto optimality is investigated by considering discrepant driving schedules. Finally, a preliminary but useful economic assessment in both current and future scenarios is performed to explore the most cost-effective tradeoff.