Investigation and Confirmation of a 48V Mild Hybrid Lithium-Ion Battery Assembly, detailed in SAE Technical Paper 2018-01-0433, conducted by experts SoDuk Lee, Jeff Cherry, Michael Safoutin, Joseph McDonald, and Michael Olechiw, in 2018.
On April 3, 2018, a groundbreaking study titled "Modeling and Validation of 48V Mild Hybrid Lithium-Ion Battery Pack" was published by SAE. The authors of the paper, SoDuk Lee, Jeff Cherry, Michael Safoutin, Joseph McDonald, and Michael Olechiw, delved into the impact of integrating a 48-volt mild hybrid system using a lithium-ion battery pack on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of light-duty vehicles.
The study found that incorporating a 48V mild hybrid system significantly reduces CO2 emissions compared to conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This reduction is primarily due to improved engine efficiency and regenerative braking capabilities enabled by the hybrid system.
The lithium-ion battery pack used in the 48V mild hybrid system offers a balance between energy density, cost, and weight, making it suitable for such applications without substantial penalties on vehicle mass or cost.
The mild hybrid system enhances fuel economy by enabling features like start-stop, torque assist during acceleration, and electric boosting, which lowers engine load and fuel consumption, especially in urban driving cycles with frequent stops and starts.
The paper also discusses the lifecycle emissions of the battery pack, considering manufacturing and end-of-life impacts. Despite the additional emissions from battery production, net GHG emissions are reduced when considering the full lifecycle due to fuel savings during vehicle use.
Optimization of battery size and control strategies are highlighted as critical to maximizing GHG reductions while managing cost and weight increases.
In summary, the 48V mild hybrid lithium-ion battery pack contributes to measurable reductions in light-duty vehicle GHG emissions by enabling hybrid functionalities that improve fuel efficiency and reduce engine load without the complexity and cost of higher voltage full hybrid or electric vehicle systems. This makes the 48V mild hybrid system a practical and impactful approach for reducing emissions in the near term across light-duty vehicle fleets.
If you'd like to delve deeper into the quantitative results and data tables presented in the paper, feel free to ask! The paper is available as a pdf document, with a file size of approximately 1.55 MB. You can access it through SAE's website.
Data-and-cloud-computing technology could be utilized to analyze the findings of the "Modeling and Validation of 48V Mild Hybrid Lithium-Ion Battery Pack" study, allowing for further research and comparison of various hybrid systems' impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. The advancements in technology empower researchers to process large datasets related to vehicle emissions, contributing to the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly transportation systems.