INTRODUCTION Today, the majority of the personal transportation energy comes from petroleum, which is used either in form of gasoline or diesel in conventional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Displacing petroleum without penalizing personal and commercial mobility has therefore become a major objective for the automotive industry and for government agencies worldwide. Today, the most viable options include fuel economy improvements in conventional vehicles, vehicle hybridization/electrification, and the recourse to alternative fuels (natural gas, LPG, bio-diesel, etc) [ 1, 2]. Passenger cars are required by law to become more efficient and environment-friendly. In US, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hasrecently set standards to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) levels rapidly over the next several years, while in other countries fuel efficiency standards are regulated by way of CO 2 emissions mandates, and are well above those of the United States, as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. In spite of technology improvements and legislative requirements, consumers will be the key drivers in the development of alternative vehicles. Higher cost, limited range and long recharging time represent serious drawbacks that limit market penetration of virtually all alternative-fuel vehicles in the personal transportation sector [ 4]. The choice of an option with respect to others is complex, and involves a variety of subjective factors regarding income, attitude towards cleaner technologies, practical needs, and others. 2013-24-0086 Published 09/08/2013 Copyright © 2013 SAE International doi:10.4271/2013-24-0086 saealtpow.saejournals.org A Model to Assess the Benefits of an After-Market Hybridization Kit based on Realistic Driving Habits and Charging Infrastructure Vincenzo Marano, Hebert Medina, Marco Sorrentino, and Gianfranco Rizzo Universita Degli Studi Di Salerno ABSTRACT Despite the recent commercial success of HEVs, their market share is still insufficient to produce a significant impact on energy consumption on a global basis. Moreover, it is unlikely that, in next few years, the scenario will drastically change, since relevant investments on production plants would be needed and the market does not seem to provide the expected growth for such technologies. Therefore, the possibility of upgrading conventional vehicles to hybrid electric vehicles is gaining interest. Among the diverse options for hybridization, researchers are focusing on electrification of rear wheels in front-driven vehicles, by adopting in-wheel motors and adding a lithium-ion battery. Thus, the vehicle is transformed in a Through-The-Road parallel hybrid electric vehicle. This paper presents an energy-based model, developed in Matlab/Simulink environment, of a conventional vehicle hybridized by means of such conversion kit. The model has a modular approach, where different powertrain configurations are considered, specifically with different battery sizes, different in-wheel motors power, with/without plug-in capabilities. An additional level of complexity comes from the opportunity to integrate flexible PV panels into the hybridization kit. In order to assess the benefits of the proposed kit with respect to the conventional vehicle, the analysis was performed over a variety of realistic driving cycles to reflect common driving habits. Results show that driver habits (in terms of driving style and distance driven), and the availability of charging infrastructure play an important role in fuel economy of the vehicle, thus making one configuration more convenient than others. CITATION: Marano, V., Medina, H., Sorrentino, M., and Rizzo, G., "A Model to Assess the Benefits of an After-Market Hybridization Kit based on Realistic Driving Habits and Charging Infrastructure," SAE Int. J. Alt. Power. 2(3):2013, doi: 10.4271/2013-24-0086. ____________________________________ 471Downloaded from SAE International by Bi