Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) have increasingly become prevalent over the past years. BEVs can be regarded as a grid load and as a way to support the grid (energy buffering), provided this extensive battery usage does not affect the BEV’s performance. Data from both the vehicle and the grid are required for effective Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) implementation. As such, a cloud-based big data platform is proposed in this paper to exploit these data. Additionally, this study aims to develop smart algorithms, which optimise different factors, including BEV cost of ownership and battery degradation. Dashboards are developed to provide key information to different V2G stakeholders.

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A general design approach is presented for model-based control of piston position in a free-piston engine (FPE). The proposed approach controls either “bottom-dead-center” (BDC) or “top-dead-center” (TDC) position. The key advantage of the approach is that it facilitates controller parameter selection, by the way of deriving parameter combinations that yield both stable BDC and stable TDC. Driving the piston motion toward a target compression ratio is, therefore, achieved with sound engineering insight, consequently allowing repeatable engine cycles for steady power output. The adopted control design approach is based on linear control-oriented models derived from exploitation of energy conservation principles in a two-stroke engine cycle. Two controllers are developed: A proportional integral (PI) controller with an associated stability condition expressed in terms of controller parameters, and a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) to demonstrate a framework for advanced control design where needed. A detailed analysis is undertaken on two FPE case studies differing only by rebound device type, reporting simulation results for both PI and LQR control. The applicability of the proposed methodology to other common FPE configurations is examined to demonstrate its generality.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Fuel cell and battery electric powertrains are maturing zero-emission technologies expected to complement each other in the future. At present, battery electric powertrains have emerged competitive for urban light-duty transportation while fuel cell powertrains have emerged competitive in heavy-duty commercial transportation, alongside conventional internal combustion engine propulsion. This paper assesses the benefit for fuel cell powertrains in off-road vehicles, taking into account current and target industry data for powertrain components. Specific emphasis is placed on three important aspects, namely driving range, vehicle weight, and vehicle cost. A model-based design approach is then adopted to size the powertrain to meet a set of performance requirements. Owing to the high performance demands of off-road vehicles such as high gradeability and payload capacity, the paper evaluates the merits of a two-speed transmission in comparison to a single speed transmission under drive cycle and performance testing scenarios. A detailed fuel cell model is adopted and validated with real vehicle test data, also from which a highly scalable energy management system is systematically developed. This work adds to a growing industry effort towards zero-emission electrification of off-road vehicles.</div></div>

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