Modelling of An Electric Tractor Powertrain using MATLAB/Simulink

Abstract

Lithium-ion battery pack technology is the current trend in the automotive industry. For this study, the authors have selected NMC 18650 lithium-ion cells to design a battery pack for electric tractors and simulating the electric tractor powertrain model to gauge and size the battery pack configuration parameters. The tractor parameters have been selected by comparing with some Indian and Japanese electric tractors. The simulation has been carried out using MATLAB/Simulink under a custom made drive cycle. The Simulink model has been divided into five parts i.e. Wheel, Transmission, Motor, Motor Controller and Battery pack. The principle commitment of this work lies in the similar investigation of these frameworks, to choose a particular setup for the utilization of small commercial electric tractors. This study shall help anyone interested in designing and simulating Lithium-ion battery pack for their projects and wants to understand various factors which affect the selection procedure depending upon the application of the user.