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World Electric Vehicle Journal is published by MDPI from Volume 9 issue 1 (2018). Previous articles were published by The World Electric Vehicle Association (WEVA) and its member the European Association for e-Mobility (AVERE), the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), and the Electric Vehicle Association of Asia Pacific (EVAAP). They are hosted by MDPI on mdpi.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with AVERE.
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Article

Supercapacitor/Battery hybrid Powered Electric Bicycle via a Smart Boost Converter

Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
World Electr. Veh. J. 2010, 4(2), 280-286; https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj4020280
Published: 25 June 2010

Abstract

This work implements a smart boost converter to enable an electric bicycle to be powered by a battery/supercapacitor hybrid combination. A 36V, 250W front hub motor was retrofitted onto a normal geared bike powered by a 36V; 12Ah lithium ion phosphate battery pack. A 16.2V, 58F supercapacitor module was connected in parallel to the battery pack via a custom made microcontroller-based boost converter which arbitrates power between the battery and supercapacitor. The control algorithm for the boost converter was developed using a practical approach by using various sensor inputs (battery/supercapacitor current and voltage, bike speed) and comparing the robustness of control scheme. Also energy efficient components were used in designing the boost converter to ensure maximum power transfer efficiency.
Based on the implemented system experimental results show an improvement in the up-hill acceleration of the bicycle as a direct result of the boost converter being responsive enough to harvest the extra current from the high power complementary supercapacitor module avoiding deep discharges from the battery. This enhanced battery life. The maximum speed remained unchanged while the improvement in range per charge was subjective to the terrain i.e. flat land; not significant improvement, hilly terrain; significant. However, recharging the supercapacitor via regenerative braking proved to be an arduous task since the boost converter was not designed to be bi-directional. Copyright Form of EVS25.
Keywords: Electric Bicycle; Supercapacitor; Boost Converter; Energy Management Algorithm Electric Bicycle; Supercapacitor; Boost Converter; Energy Management Algorithm

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Manoj, E.; Isa, D.; Arelhi, R. Supercapacitor/Battery hybrid Powered Electric Bicycle via a Smart Boost Converter. World Electr. Veh. J. 2010, 4, 280-286. https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj4020280

AMA Style

Manoj E, Isa D, Arelhi R. Supercapacitor/Battery hybrid Powered Electric Bicycle via a Smart Boost Converter. World Electric Vehicle Journal. 2010; 4(2):280-286. https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj4020280

Chicago/Turabian Style

Manoj, E., Dino Isa, and Roselina Arelhi. 2010. "Supercapacitor/Battery hybrid Powered Electric Bicycle via a Smart Boost Converter" World Electric Vehicle Journal 4, no. 2: 280-286. https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj4020280

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