Convex Optimization for the Energy Management of Hybrid Electric Vehicles Considering Engine Start and Gearshift Costs

This paper presents a novel method to solve the energy management problem for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) with engine start and gearshift costs. The method is based on a combination of deterministic dynamic programming (DP) and convex optimization. As demonstrated in a case study, the method yields globally optimal results while returning the solution in much less time than the conventional DP method. In addition, the proposed method handles state constraints, which allows for the application to scenarios where the battery state of charge (SOC) reaches its boundaries.