Journal of Power Sources 109 (2002) 58–66

Modelling and simulation of vehicle electric power system

Wootaik Lee, Daeho Choi, Myoungho Sunwoo*
Department of Automotive Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, South Korea
Received 5 September 2001; accepted 11 January 2002

Abstract

In recent years, the demand for an increased number of vehicle functions by legislation and customer expectations has introduced many
electronic control systems and electrical driven units in vehicles and has resulted in steadily increasing electrical loads. Moreover, due to
heavy urban traffic conditions, the idling time fraction has increased and reduced the power generation of the alternator. In the vehicle design
phase, in order to avoid an over- or under-design problem of the electric power system, it is necessary to understand both the characteristics of
each component of the vehicle electric power system and the interactions between the components. For this purpose, model and simulation
algorithms of the vehicle power system are required.
In this study, the vehicle electric power system, which is mainly composed of a generator and battery, is modelled and evaluated. Among the
various proposed battery models, two types are compared in terms of accuracy and ease-of-use. These two models are distinguished by the
consideration of inrush current at the beginning of charging and discharging. In addition, a variable terminal voltage alternator model (VTVA
model) is proposed, and is compared with a constant terminal voltage alternator model (CTVA model). Based on the major component model,
a simulation algorithm is developed and used to perform a case study. Compared with real data from the vehicle, the simulation results of
energy generation and consumption are comparable. # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Vehicle electric power system; Battery model; Alternator model

1. Introduction efficient and highly reliable energy source of their own

which must be available at all times. When the engine is
In recent years, many electronic control systems and running, the alternator becomes the on-board electricity
electrically-driven units in vehicles have been introduced. generating plant, whereas, with the engine stopped, the
These systems have substantially increased electrical power battery is the vehicle’s energy store. In order for the entire
consumption in vehicles. This trend requires electrical sup- system to be reliable and trouble-free in any operating
ply systems of larger capacity. The general demand for condition, it is necessary that the electric power output from
increased vehicle functions by legislation and customer the alternator and the battery should match the remaining
expectations has resulted in a steadily increasing electrical electrical loads as optimally as possible. An improper deci-
load [1]. For example, electronic control units (ECUs) are sion regarding the capacity of the electric power system,
relatively light loads but require a high-quality supply, and such as that of the alternator and battery, will cause serious
increase quiescent current demands. Systems such as brak- problems under actual driving conditions. For example,
ing and steering are now using electric actuation and require over-design of the alternator capacity will degrade fuel
high integrity. Electrically heated catalysts (EHCs) require economy due to vehicle weight and loss of propulsion power,
high power, perhaps of 1 min duration, at the same time as and will increase the cost of the vehicle. On the other hand, if
heavy starting loads [2,3]. the alternator capacity is too small, cold-cranking problems
Furthermore, the idle time fraction during vehicle opera- and road-side breakdowns may occur [2,4].
tion has been increased due to the heavy urban traffic The vehicle electrical power system includes the alter-
conditions, which reduces the power generation of the nator, battery, and electrical loads. With the increased
alternator. The electric power supply system of a modern requirement on modern cars for integrated, interactive vehi-
vehicle has to supply sufficient electrical energy to numer- cle sub-systems, the electrical power supply performance
ous electrical and electronic systems. Vehicles need an becomes more critical. The electrical power system is not
just a collection of isolated components; the various loads
*
Corresponding author. Fax: þ82-2-2297-5495. consume power, the alternator provides it, and the battery
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Sunwoo). buffers and stores it [2,3].

0378-7753/02/$ – see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 7 8 - 7 7 5 3 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 3 3 - 2
 W. Lee et al. / Journal of Power Sources 109 (2002) 58–66 59

Nomenclature

BWC battery with capacitance

BWOC battery without capacitance
CTVA constant terminal voltage alternator
SOC state-of-charge
VTVA variable terminal voltage alternator
C20 20 h battery capacity
Cb battery overvoltage capacitance
Cn net battery capacity
DCn changes of net battery capacity Fig. 1. Diagram of supply/demand of vehicle’s electric power.
ia alternator terminal current
ib battery terminal current
il load current three parts (battery, alternator, and electrical loads), and each
I20 20 h battery current part modelled as an equivalent circuit [19].
Ia alternator maximum current Electrical loads can be modelled as equivalent resistance,
n Peukert constant which varies according to the ON/OFF status of each load.
Ra alternator internal resistance Since the alternator and the battery have electrically com-
Rb battery internal resistance plicated characteristics, however, they cannot be modelled
Rc battery charging resistance as simple components. Among the various modelling meth-
Rd battery discharging resistance ods of the alternator and the battery, an empirical approach is
Rl load equivalent resistance adopted because of its simplicity and relative accuracy.
Rw wire resistance
va alternator terminal voltage 2.1. Battery
vb battery terminal voltage
Va alternator open-circuit voltage Within the vehicle electrical system, the battery acts as a
Vb battery open-circuit voltage chemical storage device for the electrical energy generated
by the alternator. It must be able to supply high currents
Greek letter briefly for cold-cranking, and to supply some or all the
Z charging efficiency currents required by other systems for a limited period
(while idling or when the engine is not running). In vehicles,
lead-acid batteries are generally used.
To determine the capacity of the alternator and the Battery characteristics are determined by the internal
battery appropriately, many factors should be considered, chemical reactions, and these reactions are affected by
such as vehicle type, weather conditions, driving condi- the ambient temperature, the state-of-charge (SOC), the
tions, and electrical load demands. In real driving condi- charge–discharge rate, and charge–discharge history. Thus,
tions, the maximum output current of the alternator varies it is not easy to predict the charge–discharge current and
according to the engine rpm, and also the electrical load changes in the SOC of the battery. The current flowing into
demand varies upon the weather and driving conditions. the battery is determined by the charging voltage and the
Thus, an easy-to-use model and simulation algorithm has to internal impedance of the battery [18].
be developed to analyse and evaluate such complicated Typical charging and discharging currents are shown in
relations [5–8]. Fig. 2. In this test, it is assumed that the battery is charged at
This paper describes modelling procedures for the major a constant voltage and then discharged under a constant load.
electric power systems of a vehicle, such as the battery and At the beginning of charging, a very large inrush current
alternator. Equivalent circuit models of the vehicle electric flows, and immediately after that, the current decreases very
power system are described in detail under both charging sharply. Then, the charging current decreases smoothly.
and discharging conditions, and a simulation algorithm is Various modelling methods have been proposed up to now
introduced. Finally, the simulation results are compared with [9]. These can be divided into electrochemical methods and
experimental data. electrical equivalent circuit methods [13–15]. The electro-
chemical model usually gives more accurate results, but it is
more difficult to model, and it takes much more time to
2. Models of major components simulate. Therefore, the electrical equivalent circuit model
is adopted in this study because it is relatively accurate and
To simulate the vehicle electric power system, the major efficient.
electric systems should be modelled appropriately. As Batteries can be described in terms of two equivalent
shown in Fig. 1, the electric system can be divided into circuit models, as shown in Fig. 3. These two models are
60 W. Lee et al. / Journal of Power Sources 109 (2002) 58–66

Fig. 2. Typical charging and discharging current of battery. Fig. 4. Charging current when vb ¼ 12:55 V.

classified by the consideration of inrush current at the

beginning of charging or discharging. The battery model To determine which model is more appropriate in the
with capacitance (BWC-model) represents the inrush cur- vehicle electric power system model, total charge and inrush
rent by a capacitance (Cb) and a resistance (Rc or Rd) [10,11], current charge have been analysed, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.
but battery model without capacitance (BWOC-model) A 90 A h battery is charged at 12.55 and 13.5 V, respec-
ignores it [12]. The BWC-model shows more accurate tively. In these figures, the hatched area represents the
results but it requires four parameters (Cb, Rc, Rd, and Rb) amount of charge induced by the inrush current. The inrush
to be identified. Furthermore, it is necessary to identify over- current charges become 0.05 Ah (0.054% of 90 Ah) and
voltage capacitance (Cb), a time-consuming procedure, 0.06 Ah (0.068% of 90 Ah) at 12.55 and 13.5 V charging,
which represents the time constant of the inrush current. respectively. The total amount of inrush current charge
On the other hand, the BWOC-model has only two para- increases as the supply voltage increases, but the ratio of
meters (Rc, and Rd), and does not need such a lengthy inrush current charge to total charge decreases. Similar
procedure as the BWC-model. effects also appear at the beginning of discharging although
the charges are not the same as those when charging.
Therefore, the inrush current effect can be ignored in the
model for the whole vehicle electric power system. As a
result, the BWOC-model is used in this study.
The open-circuit voltage of the battery, Vb, is a function of
the relative density of sulphuric acid and the temperature. It
can be obtained from the Nernst Equation. The variation of
current on the SOC can be modelled as Rc and Rd which are

Fig. 3. Equivalent circuit model of a battery: (A) BWC model (B) BWOC
model. Fig. 5. Charging current when vb ¼ 13:5 V.
 W. Lee et al. / Journal of Power Sources 109 (2002) 58–66 61

Fig. 8. Constant terminal voltage alternator (CTVA) model.

smaller than the load current, the alternator is modelled as a

current source.
Two electrical equivalent circuit models for the alternator
Fig. 6. Charging internal resistance (Rc).
are used in this study. One is a constant terminal voltage
alternator model (CTVA model) [8], and the other is a
functions of the SOC. The relationship between these two variable terminal voltage alternator model (VTVA model).
parameters and the SOC is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The CTVA model (Fig. 8) assumes that the alternator
terminal voltage is always the rated voltage. Therefore,
2.2. Alternator the alternator operates as a constant-voltage source when
the battery is charged. In addition, the alternator works as the
When the engine is running, the alternator supplies the constant-current source which is dependent on the alternator
electrical power required by the other electrical devices. In speed while discharging. In the CTVA model, the charge/
general, alternators are composed of an ac generator, a discharge critical point is invariable at a constant alternator
rectifier, and a voltage regulator. The output current of speed.
the alternator at a variety of different speeds is shown by On the other hand, the VTVA model (Fig. 9), which is
a characteristic curve. Alternators are coupled to the engine proposed in this study, assumes that the alternator voltage is
via a pulley. Due to the constant pulley ratio between the dependent on the state of the electrical load and battery. As
alternator and the engine, the alternator operates at greatly shown in Fig. 10, the actual alternator maximum current
different speeds [16,17,19]. varies according to the alternator speed and the terminal
The alternator can be modelled according to the max- voltage.
imum available current. If the alternator maximum current is Consequently, in the case of battery charge, an alternator
greater than the load current needed by the electrical can be modelled as a series circuit of an internal resistance
devices, the alternator is modelled as a constant-voltage and an independent voltage source. On the other hand, in the
source. By contrast, if the alternator maximum current is case of battery discharge, an alternator can be modelled as a

Fig. 7. Discharging internal resistance (Rd). Fig. 9. Alternator maximum current at different terminal voltages.
62 W. Lee et al. / Journal of Power Sources 109 (2002) 58–66

Fig. 10. Variable terminal voltage alternator (VTVA) model.

dependent current source, which is a function of alternator

speed and the terminal voltage. While the battery is being Fig. 12. Open-circuit voltage and internal resistance of alternator.
discharged, the voltage regulator becomes a short circuit,
and the alternator becomes a three-phase, synchronous, self-
excited generator. Thus, if the alternator terminal voltage shown in Fig. 12. Both parameters are nearly constant over
drops due to the heavy electric load, this decreases the the wide range of alternator speeds due to the operation of
excitation current of the excitation winding. As a result, the regulator.
the maximum current decreases according to the voltage
drop of the terminal voltage, as shown in Fig. 9. When the
load current is smaller than the alternator maximum current 3. Simulation algorithm and equivalent circuit model
(e.g. in the case of battery charge), the alternator terminal
voltage depends on the load current. In addition, the switch- In each time step, the battery current is calculated through
ing of the voltage regulator, the conduction loss in the diode the engine rpm profile, the electrical load current profile, and
bridge rectifier, and the resistance of the armature winding the vehicle electric power system model. Changes in the
all affect the alternator terminal voltage. So, by using the SOC are calculated from the battery current and the present
voltage drop, the alternator internal resistance and the SOC. The conceptual flowchart of the simulation algorithm
alternator open-circuit voltage can be estimated. is shown in Fig. 13.
The alternator terminal voltage is measured according to In the following discussion, the VTVA model is used as an
various load currents and alternator speeds. The alternator example in an equivalent-circuit model, but the CTVA
current ranges from zero to maximum value at a constant model could be used in the same manner.
alternator speed. A first-order polynomial is fitted to the data
of a constant alternator speed, as shown in Fig. 11. The slope 3.1. Discharging mode
of the fitted line represents the alternator internal resistance,
and the y-intercept of this line provides estimation of the The equivalent circuit model for discharging is shown in
open-circuit voltage. The internal resistance and the alter- Fig. 14. If the maximum current output of an alternator,
nator open-circuit voltage at various alternator speeds are which is determined by the engine rpm in the driving mode,
is smaller than the load current, the battery supplies the
current in conjunction with the alternator by discharging the
stored energy, i.e.
ib ¼ il  ia (1)
After determination of the battery current, the change in
SOC of the battery is calculated according to Peukert’s SOC
model. The Peukert relationship states that the product of the
constant-current discharge time t and the discharge current ib
to the power n is constant, i.e.
inb t ¼ constant (2)
Using this relationship, the battery ampere-hour capacity,
Cb, at some discharge current, ib, can be related to a known
discharge rate, C20, by:
 ðn1Þ
I20
Cb ¼ C20 (3)
Fig. 11. Test result at 4000 rpm. ib
 W. Lee et al. / Journal of Power Sources 109 (2002) 58–66 63

from one time interval to another. Consequently, the SOC

equation must be modified to give the charge occurring
during a computational time interval of Dt seconds. For the
kth time interval, this gives
 n1
DCn;k ib Dt 1 ib Dt ib
DSOCk ¼  ¼ ¼
Cb 3600 C20 Cb 3600 C20 I20
(5)
with the net SOC at the end of that time interval being:
SOCk ¼ SOCk1 þ DSOCk (6)
and the net discharged ampere-hours being:
Cn;k ¼ Cn;k1 þ DCn;k (7)

3.2. Charging mode

The equivalent circuit model for charging is given in

Fig. 15. When the alternator current is sufficient for the
electrical loads, the battery is charged. In this case, the
battery charging current is determined by the difference
between the alternator maximum current and the load
current or by the SOC of the battery, i.e.
 
Vb  vb
ib ¼ max il  Ia ; (8)
Rc

In the case of charging, all the charges are not stored in the
battery, i.e. because some energy is dissipated in the form of
heat. So, the charging efficiency Z should be considered.
During the charging process, a constant charge efficiency is
Fig. 13. Flowchart of simulation algorithm. assumed such that the incremental ampere-hours become:
ib Dt
DCn ¼ Z (9)
3600
The battery SOC depends on the net discharge ampere-
hours according to: Assuming constant-efficiency charging, the change in
  SOC is given by
Cn
SOC ¼ 1  (4)
Cb DCn
DSOCk ¼ ð1  SOCk1 Þ (10)
Cn;k1
where Cn ¼ ib t is the discharge ampere-hours at rate ib, and t
is the discharge time in hours. Unfortunately, during a And the net SOC and ampere-hours are given by the same
driving cycle, the discharge rate is not constant but varies equations as the discharging case, respectively.

Fig. 14. Equivalent circuit model (discharging). Fig. 15. Equivalent circuit model (charging).
64 W. Lee et al. / Journal of Power Sources 109 (2002) 58–66

Fig. 16. Structure of simulation.

4. Structure of simulation program

Fig. 17. SIMULINK block diagram of VEPS.
The vehicle electric power system simulation (Fig. 16) is
developed with the simulation program MATLAB/SIMU-
LINK. This program is based on individual component 5. Model validation
models, and analyses vehicle electric power flow on a
second time basis of a specified driving cycle. Component Several tests have been performed to validate the model.
parameters are saved in M-files, so the simulation program The battery used in these tests, is the Solite CMF60, the rated
can manage various models of components. voltage of the test alternator is 13.5 V, and the rated output
An upper level schematic of the vehicle electric power current is 75 A. All tests are run at a constant alternator
simulator (VEPS) routine is shown in Fig. 17. A drive cycle, speed of 3000 rpm.
which consists of the alternator speed and electric load To compare the accuracy of the two alternator mod-
resistance, provides the basic data. The alternator speed is els(VTVA model and CTVA model), first a charging and
used by the alternator sub-system (Fig. 18), and the electric discharging driving cycle was examined using a 81.6%
load resistance is used by the battery sub-system (Fig. 19). charged battery, and the two equivalent circuit models were
The alternator block provides the alternator maximum cur- simulated. These results are shown in Figs. 20 and 21. As
rent and terminal voltage to the battery block. The battery described previously the two alternator models show differ-
block calculates the battery terminal voltage, power, current, ent characteristics in the discharging phase, and this is
and SOC using the alternator maximum current, terminal verified by the simulation. The VTVA model shows more
voltage, and load resistance. accurate results than the CTVA model.

Fig. 18. Alternator model in VEPS.

 W. Lee et al. / Journal of Power Sources 109 (2002) 58–66 65

Fig. 19. Battery model in VEPS.

Fig. 22. Validation of model using repeated charging–discharging mode
(battery current).

Fig. 20. Comparison between VTVA model and CTVA model (battery Fig. 23. Validation of model using repeated charging–discharging mode
current). (battery voltage).

Table 1
Comparison of SOC

Initial SOC (%) Final SOC (%) Change of

SOC (%)

Simulation 90 84.51 5.49

Experiment 90 84.68 5.32

A comparison between the measured and simulated

results with the VTVA model are shown in Figs. 22 and
23 and Table 1, for a run in a repeated charging/discharging
mode when the initial SOC is 90.1%. The measured data and
the simulated data are in close agreement.

6. Conclusions

Fig. 21. Comparison between VTVA model and CTVA model (battery The introduction of an increased number of electrical
voltage). systems in vehicles has led to higher electrical loads while
66 W. Lee et al. / Journal of Power Sources 109 (2002) 58–66

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