MINDED
Thermal and energy Management for INcreased Driving range of an Electric minibus including improved user-centric Design and thermal comfort.
Funding agency:
The European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under GA no. 101138202
Project duration: 01.01.2024 – 31.12.2026
Coordinator: Austrian Institute of Technology
Objective
The objective of MINDED is to deliver a battery-electric, zero-emission IVECO eDaily minibus with a 20 % improved range at 0 °C. This objective is reached through the highly efficient heating system for the driver and passengers based on infrared (IR) heating panels, controlled by optimal thermal and energy management strategy, and supported by innovative human-machine interface (HMI), and the optimised air conditioning system in heat pump mode, using innovative oil-free centrifugal e-compressor with gas bearing technology.
The project includes 10 Technology bricks, organized in three areas:
- AREA I: Heating and Cooling System, including (1) IR heating panels, (2) thermal cabin insulation, (3) a thermal mannequin for evaluating passenger comfort, (4) the optimised HVAC unit featuring an e-compressor with gas bearings, (5) the required ECUs, and (6) the user-centric HMI.
- AREA II: Digital Twin and Control Strategy, including (7) a new digital twin model, (8) an AI-based algorithm for predicting driving behavior, (9) the TEMS, and (10) a comfort control strategy for determining optimal settings.
- AREA III: Demonstration and Performance Evaluation, demonstrating the IVECO eDaily minibus on the dynamometer at TRL7 and the HVAC unit on the ThermoLab testbed at TRL6.
Beyond the range improvement, MINDED demonstrates a cost reduction of 5% at vehicle level from simplified systems’ installation and reduced battery requirements, and a development time reduction of 30% achieved using the digital twin model and AI. The project generates its primary impact in the bus and minibus vehicle segments, with the MINDED Technology Bricks expected to equip 75% of the IVECO bus fleet by 2035, while delivering technologies exploitable in the medium/heavy commercial electric vehicles market.
Scope for VKM
As part of the project, the VKM Institute will test an innovative HVAC system on its hardware in the loop ThermoLab test bench and evaluate and test operating strategies with regard to increase efficiency and to improve range.
ThermoLab testbed @ VKM
The ThermoLab testbed is designed as HiL capable thermohydraulic testbed. Thermal and hydraulic boundary conditions are determined by real-time vehicle co-simulation and transferred to the ThermoLab testbed. This enables the testing of the complete HVAC-System, including e-compressor, heat exchangers, refrigerant circuit and interconnections to the coolant thermal circuit system. The embedding of an E-Storage in the ThermoLab testbed infrastructure allows the operation of the high voltage components with a voltage range of up to 800 V and a peak power of 160 kW. The airstream through the heat-exchangers is provided by dynamically controllable fans to simulate HVAC airstreams and airstreams around the vehicle. Those components that cannot be integrated into the ThermoLab testbed are substituted by the replacement hardware with equivalent thermohydraulic characteristics. To ensure the best possible approximation of the prevailing boundary conditions in the vehicle on the ThermoLab testbed, a basic version of the digital twin model is converted into a real-time capable co-simulation model. Running the ThermoLab will provide a detailed efficiency analysis of the HVAC components and allows cycle-based testing of hardware components on a HiL-testbed close to the vehicle to provide TRL 6 of the tested HVAC system.
Project partners:
The consortium consists of international partners from six European countries, all of which working as recognised experts in their fields of expertise: vehicle development and manufacturing in the bus sector, electric-, electronic- and mechanical engineering, power electronics, thermal systems, modelling and simulation, data science, environmental science, and business development.
Funded by:
