SUMMARY

This thesis presents a series of model based studies and associated considerations supporting the development of a high-performance hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). Due to the increasingly strict governmental regulations and consumer demand, automakers have taken steps to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse emissions. HEV's can provide a balance between fuel economy and vehicle performance by exploiting engine load-point shifting, regenerative braking, pure electric operation, and hybrid traction modes. The existence of multitude of HEV architectures with different emissions and performance characteristics necessitates the development of novel simulation platforms which can assist in specifying and selecting critical components.

This thesis also features a novel modeling approach used to analyze the battery pack in a high performance hybrid-electric vehicle using a multi-physics co-simulation approach. This modeling capability can be extended to other multi-physics systems in order to develop high fidelity models.