PSAT (Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit)

Because of time and cost constraints, designers cannot build and test each of the many possible powertrain configurations for advanced vehicles. Thus, developing fuel cell, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and Plug-in HEVs requires accurate, flexible simulation tools. Argonne undertook a collaborative effort to further develop the Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit © (PSAT) under the direction of and with contributions from Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler. PSAT is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

After a thorough assessment, DOE selected PSAT as its primary vehicle simulation tool to support FreedomCAR and Fuels Partnership as well as 21st Century Truck Partnership activities. See the FreedomCAR and Fuels Partnership Vehicle Systems Analysis Technical Team Roadmap (371kb pdf) for more information. PSAT, one of the major tools of DOE has been used for numerous studies to assist DOE in identifying future research directions regarding HEVs as well as Plug-in HEVs. In addition, PSAT received an R&D 100 Award in 2004, ranking it among the 100 best newly available products and technologies from around the world.

PSAT Guides DOE PHEV Activities

The Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI) announced by the President in the 2006 State of the Union describes plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) as a way to dramatically increase energy efficiency and utilize spare electric generating capacity. The Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle R&D Plan (2.2Mb pdf) describes the different activities required to achieve the goals. DOE will use PSAT to guide its activities, stating that:

ANL's Powertrain Systems Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) will be used to design and evaluate a series of PHEVs with various 'primary electric' ranges, considering all-electric and charge-depleting strategies. The objective is to quantify the impact of all-electric range on component performance requirements. The concern is that the peak power requirements for the battery and electric drive are much higher to achieve the same performance in electric and hybrid modes (illustrated at right). This impacts the vehicle economics; higher energy and power requirements drive up costs of the battery and electric drive components, which reduces the likelihood or production. The primary outcomes of the vehicle analysis are:

• Potential for fuel consumption reduction of PHEVs as a function of propulsion system configuration, component sizing and control algorithms.
• Component performance goals and requirements (for R&D/solicitations)

PSAT Used by Major Companies

Although PSAT's user base primarily consists of vehicle manufacturers, government laboratories, private research institutes, and universities involved in the development of advanced vehicles, a growing number of new PSAT users have been makers of vehicle components.

Since its introduction as nonproprietary software in September 2003, PSAT has been transferred, through licensing agreements, to more than 400 users worldwide, including:

• Automotive Companies (Ford, GeneralMotors, Chrysler, Hyundai Motor Corporation, and more)
• Major Suppliers (Delphi, SK, LG, and more)
• Heavy Duty Companies (ArvinMeritor, Caterpillar, Cummins, DANA, International, John Deere, Lockheed Martin, PACCAR, and more)
• Oil Companies (Chevron , Exxon Mobil, and more)
• Government agencies (CATARC, U.S. DOE, U.S. DOT, U.S. EPA, and more)
• National Laboratories (INL, CSIRO, LLNL, ORNL, and more)
• Research Agencies (EPRI, MTA, and more)
• Universities in North America (EcoCAR Universities , Michigan-Dearborn, UCDavis, Ontario Univ., and more), Europe (Mines de Paris, Braunschweig Univ., Munich Univ., Constanza Univ., and more), and Asia (Jilin Univ., Sungkyunkwan Univ., Tsinghua Univ., and more)

As of June 2008, more than 100 companies and universities have licensed PSAT.

PSAT Provides Accurate Modeling

PSAT is a "forward-looking" model that simulates fuel economy and performance in a realistic manner — taking into account transient behavior and control system characteristics. It can simulate an unrivaled number of predefined configurations (conventional, electric, fuel cell, series hybrid, parallel hybrid, and power split hybrid). Because of its forward architecture, PSAT component interactions are "real world."

Because of its accurate dynamic component models, PSAT can be implemented directly and tested at the bench scale or in a vehicle (using its extension for prototyping, PSAT-PRO). This ability supports an ambitious development goal for PSAT — to be transportable from the virtual world of component modeling and simulation to the emulated environment of component control in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing in PSAT-PRO and then to the physical environment of full powertrain control in a vehicle in Argonne's Advanced Powertrain Research Facility.

This capability, when combined with the engineering, development, and testing resources at Argonne, substantially enhances DOE's ability to assess the potential of advanced automotive technologies and streamline the development process for promising technologies. Moreover, PSAT has provided significant benefits to industry vehicle designers and university researchers as evidenced by their growing use of PSAT for both production-oriented and research design activities.

Key Features

• Forward-looking model
• Written in MATLAB, Simulink , and StateFlow to ensure modularity and flexibility
• Wide range of vehicle applications including light- (two- and four-wheel-drive), medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles
• User-friendly graphical user interface written in C#
• Complete Simulink models and data sets provided
• Multiple-option component model libraries
• Designed for co-simulation environments

June 5, 2007