Dongfeng Electric Vehicle (DFEV) is responsible for the research and development efforts for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) within Dongfeng Motor Company in China. The company sources most components, such as traction motors and batteries, from suppliers. However, because the control strategies for battery management and vehicle energy management are vital to performance and fuel economy in HEVs, and these controllers must be optimized and integrated on the vehicle level, DFEV decided to develop the electronic control systems for its HEVs in-house as part of its original intellectual property.
Engineers at Dongfeng used MathWorks tools and Model-Based Design to develop a sophisticated battery management control system for the Dongfeng EQ6110, a hybrid electric city bus that delivers 30% better fuel efficiency than standard city buses while lowering emissions.
“A team of just six engineers developed the controller model and generated production code on schedule and on budget,” says Dr. Xiaokang Liu, principal engineer at DFEV. “Continuous verification and the use of plant models for closed-loop simulation enabled us to identify and resolve problems early to ensure that our high quality standards were met or surpassed.”