Cyber-physical systems design for electric vehicles

Electric vehicles are emerging as a solution to environmental changes and transportation challenges in growing mega-cities. Compared to combustion engine vehicles, electric vehicles bring along new challenges in the CPS design. This paper gives an overview of several of these challenges and presents initial and potential solutions for the design of the electric powertrain and E/E architectures for electric vehicles. The powertrain consists of multiple complex CPS such as the battery, the electric motor, and a distributed energy management system. These components require a complex monitoring and control in order to guarantee safety and maintain a high efficiency. For this purpose, novel E/E architectures become necessary that facilitate a predictable distributed computation and communication, requiring a paradigm shift towards fully time-triggered systems. These E/E architectures will also enable novel CPS such as innovative driver assistance systems, x-by-wire control to further increase the safety and energy-efficiency of electric vehicles, and a pervasive interaction of the vehicle and the grid. Instead of focusing on the specific applications, this paper describes the prerequisite architectural changes that are necessary to implement these novel functions.