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Hierarchical Climate Control Strategy for Electric Vehicles with Door-Opening Consideration

Sanghyeon Nam, Hyejin Lee, Youngki Kim, Kyoung hyun Kwak, Kyoungseok Han

TL;DR

This work tackles temperature fluctuations caused by door-opening disturbances in EV HVAC systems by developing a sectional cabin model and validating it experimentally. It introduces a two-layer NMPC framework: an upper layer for coolant distribution and a lower layer for door-opening–triggered inflow control, with a conditional MPC activated during interruptions to reduce computation. Case studies demonstrate substantial reductions in both door-opening temperature drops and inter-section temperature gaps, outperforming single-layer MPC and rule-based controllers. The approach lays groundwork for passenger-specific thermal comfort considerations and V2X-enabled climate control in future EV applications.

Abstract

This study proposes a novel climate control strategy for electric vehicles (EVs) by addressing door-opening interruptions, an overlooked aspect in EV thermal management. We create and validate an EV simulation model that incorporates door-opening scenarios. Three controllers are compared using the simulation model: (i) a hierarchical non-linear model predictive control (NMPC) with a unique coolant dividing layer and a component for cabin air inflow regulation based on door-opening signals; (ii) a single MPC controller; and (iii) a rule-based controller. The hierarchical controller outperforms, reducing door-opening temperature drops by 46.96% and 51.33% compared to single layer MPC and rule-based methods in the relevant section. Additionally, our strategy minimizes the maximum temperature gaps between the sections during recovery by 86.4% and 78.7%, surpassing single layer MPC and rule-based approaches, respectively. We believe that this result opens up future possibilities for incorporating the thermal comfort of passengers across all sections within the vehicle.

Hierarchical Climate Control Strategy for Electric Vehicles with Door-Opening Consideration

TL;DR

This work tackles temperature fluctuations caused by door-opening disturbances in EV HVAC systems by developing a sectional cabin model and validating it experimentally. It introduces a two-layer NMPC framework: an upper layer for coolant distribution and a lower layer for door-opening–triggered inflow control, with a conditional MPC activated during interruptions to reduce computation. Case studies demonstrate substantial reductions in both door-opening temperature drops and inter-section temperature gaps, outperforming single-layer MPC and rule-based controllers. The approach lays groundwork for passenger-specific thermal comfort considerations and V2X-enabled climate control in future EV applications.

Abstract

This study proposes a novel climate control strategy for electric vehicles (EVs) by addressing door-opening interruptions, an overlooked aspect in EV thermal management. We create and validate an EV simulation model that incorporates door-opening scenarios. Three controllers are compared using the simulation model: (i) a hierarchical non-linear model predictive control (NMPC) with a unique coolant dividing layer and a component for cabin air inflow regulation based on door-opening signals; (ii) a single MPC controller; and (iii) a rule-based controller. The hierarchical controller outperforms, reducing door-opening temperature drops by 46.96% and 51.33% compared to single layer MPC and rule-based methods in the relevant section. Additionally, our strategy minimizes the maximum temperature gaps between the sections during recovery by 86.4% and 78.7%, surpassing single layer MPC and rule-based approaches, respectively. We believe that this result opens up future possibilities for incorporating the thermal comfort of passengers across all sections within the vehicle.
Paper Structure (7 sections, 6 equations, 8 figures)

This paper contains 7 sections, 6 equations, 8 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. MODELING
  3. Cabin Model
  4. Model Validation
  5. NMPC-BASED HIERARCHICAL CONTROLLER DESIGN
  6. CASE STUDY
  7. CONCLUSIONS

Figures (8)

  • Figure 1: The illustration of the integrated thermal management system in this paper.
  • Figure 2: The figure depicting cold air propagation in the four distinct cabin sections model due to door-opening in Section 4.
  • Figure 3: KONA EV and HIOKI thermometer utilized for the experiment
  • Figure 4: Assessing model coherence by comparing our simulation model with experiment results.
  • Figure 5: Hierarchical climate control system.
  • ...and 3 more figures