Analysis of Conventional Motorcycles with the Focus on Hybridization

The release of the “Regulation No. 168/2013” for the approval and market surveillance of two- or three-wheel motorcycles and quadricycles of the European Union started a new challenge for the motorcycle industry. One goal of the European Union is to achieve emission parity between passenger cars (EURO 6) and motorcycles (EURO 5) in 2020. The hybridization of motorcycle powertrains is one way to achieve these strict legislation limits. In the automotive sector, hybridization is well investigated and has already shown improvements of fuel consumption, efficiency and emission behavior. Equally, motorcycle applications have a high potential to improve efficiency and to meet customer needs as fun to drive as well. This paper describes a methodical approach to analyze conventional motorcycles regarding the energy and power demand for different driving cycles and driving conditions. Therefore, a dynamic or forward vehicle simulation within MATLAB Simulink is used. Within this simulation the energy and power requirement for overcoming the driving residence is calculated. By a detailed analysis of the load points over the separate parts of a driving cycle (e.g. WMTC) potentials and requirements are displayed. The results of this research shows that with a proper selection of the hybridization-level, dimensioning and assembly of the vehicle components (ICE, E-Motor, Electrical Storage,...) improvements are still possible. Furthermore, the impacts of different hybridization levels on the homologation process are shown. In this case, the focus is put on the fuel consumption calculation which is prescribed by the European Union.