Selection powertrain for 25 m bi-articulated series hybrid, electric or fuel cell vehicle operating on istanbul bus rapid transit line

Abstract

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has the mobility of buses and near the passenger carrying capacity of trams and metro which is the most suitable urban passenger transportation vehicle for metropolitan cities like as Istanbul. Istanbul Municipality purchased 50 units, 26 m and be-articulated Phileas brand vehicles in 2007 year. Phileas vehicles had traction performance problems on highly slope roads. For this reason, Istanbul Municipality was not purchased Phileas vehicles again. Istanbul Municipality purchased 18 m single articulated vehicles of another brands. Ulasim company developed diesel 25 m, 5 axles and be-articulated LF25 diesel vehicle and gave to 132 units Istanbul Municipality. LF25 vehicles have been operating without any traction problems since March 2022 and performed very well in terms of passenger carrying capacity. The first objective of this paper is to make traction performance calculations of the LF25 diesel vehicle according to the Istanbul BRT Line with the Powertrain Selection Program (PTSP) and to verify the model by comparing the vehicle test results and modeling results. The second objective of this paper is to reveal how the LF25 vehicle can be transformed into the most suitable serial hybrid, electric or fuel cell vehicle for the Istanbul metrobus line by using PTSP without any performance problem. At the end of this study, PTSP was verified for the LF25 diesel vehicle and the appropriate architecture for converting the LF25 vehicle into a serial hybrid, electric or fuel cell vehicle was to prove electric portal axles on the 3rd and 4th axles. it has been found that the acceleration and gradeability performance of these vehicles are better than the LF25 diesel vehicle by selecting the appropriate electric motor and powertrain on the 3rd and 4th axles.