A Dynamic Programming Approach for Thermal Comfort Control in Electric Vehicles

Anas Lahlou (1) , Florence Ossart (2) , Emmanuel Boudard (1) , Francis Roy (1) , Mohamed Bakhouya (3)

1 PSA - PSA Peugeot - Citroën
2 GeePs - Laboratoire Génie électrique et électronique de Paris
3 UM5 - Université Mohammed V de Rabat [Agdal]

The HVAC system represents the main auxiliary load in electric vehicles (EVs) and requires efficient control approaches that balance energy saving and thermal comfort. In fact, passengers always demand more comfort, but on the other hand the HVAC system consumption strongly impacts the vehicle driving range, which constitutes the major concern in EVs. In this paper, dynamic programming is applied to develop an HVAC system supervisor that optimizes the thermal comfort on a given journey, for given climatic conditions and energy available. The electric vehicle model and the optimization approach are presented. Two test- cases, corresponding to hot climate, are simulated. In the first one, the energetic cost of improved comfort is quantified, while in the second one the trade-off between driving speed and thermal comfort is analyzed.

Keywords: energy saving; climatic conditions; energetic cost; driving speed; improved comfort; optimization approach; electric vehicle model; HVAC system supervisor; vehicle driving range; HVAC system consumption; efficient control approaches; EVs; main auxiliary load; electric vehicles; thermal comfort control; dynamic programming approach; Electric Vehicle; Thermal comfort; HVAC; energy management; Dynamic Programming

Domains: Electric power

Anas Lahlou, Florence Ossart, Emmanuel Boudard, Francis Roy, Mohamed Bakhouya. A Dynamic Programming Approach for Thermal Comfort Control in Electric Vehicles. Vehicle Power Propulsion Conference VPPC 2018, Aug 2018, Chicago, United States. pp.1-6, ⟨10.1109/vppc.2018.8604983⟩. ⟨hal-01900635⟩