1D control model of a hydrogen-powered vehicle for race strategy optimization

The paper presents a 1D model of the hydrogen-powered vehicle IDRAkronos to optimize fuel performance but also to predict the behavior in real road conditions. The most important vehicle parts have been developed: the vehicle dynamics, the track properties, the race strategy, the electric motor, the fuel cell, the supercapacitors, the DC-DC converter, and energy management. The model simulates different operative conditions and works as a predictive model to identify a racing strategy that ensures the lowest possible fuel consumption. The goal is to perform an optimization of the model through the implementation of a coast-down curve derived from experimental track tests; and, moreover, by correcting the characterization of the DC-DC converter that handles the energy exchange between the fuel cell and the supercaps. These corrections allow for reducing the gap between the simulated and the measured data on the track, so that the reliability of the model is increased, and it can be exploited for the identification of the most convenient race strategy for energy consumption. In fact, the simulation results, in terms of hydrogen consumption, compared with the results obtained on the track during the competition, show a considerable match establishing that the 1D model could be a valid method to study the correct vehicle race set-up.