The electric vehicle energy management: An overview of the energy system and related modeling and simulation

Abstract Transition into the electrified transportation sector is being investigated among the feasible technological resolutions to tackle the mounting climate change issues. Such a transition also comes with the prospect of smart vehicles and shared transportation schemes. An electric vehicle relies solely on stored electric energy to propel the vehicle and maintain comfortable driving conditions. This dependence signifies the need for good energy management predicated on optimization of the design and operation of the vehicle's energy system, namely energy storage and consumption systems. Through the analysis of the relevant literature this paper aims to provide a comprehensive discussion that covers the energy management of the whole electric vehicle in terms of the main storage/consumption systems. It describes the various energy storage systems utilized in electric vehicles with more elaborate details on Li-ion batteries. It then, focuses on the detailed analysis of the prevalent intercalation batteries but also offers a limited discussion on new-generation batteries and their development path. Furthermore, it discusses electric vehicle energy consumption and points out the major energy consumption systems within a typical electric vehicle. It first unpacks the cabin cooling system in terms of its types and energy consumption. Then it proceeds to unpacks the battery thermal management system and classifies it according to working fluid, thermal cycle and power consumption. It discusses as well the widely adopted cooling systems in terms of advantages, disadvantages and describes related studies. Finally, it puts together the relevant state-of-the-art numerical models with special attention focused on equivalent circuit models and discusses associated simulation resources and software packages. It also presents an illustrative case-study to elaborate on the thermal modeling and simulation of Li-ion batteries using the equivalent circuit model.