To model and analyze the dynamic response of an electric vehicle (EV) suspension system and compare it with a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, focusing on passenger comfort and safety.
Both vehicles are modeled as quarter car (two DOF for EV) and half car (four DOF for EV and five DOF for ICE). The analysis includes vehicle–road and vehicle–bridge interaction dynamics using MATLAB Simulink and the Runge–Kutta method, incorporating various road profiles and disturbances.
The EV’s suspension system outperforms the ICE vehicle in ride comfort and road holding across various conditions, with better responses to road disturbances and reduced peak overshoot. These results highlight the advantages of EV designs in enhancing overall vehicle dynamics.
This study makes several novel contributions, including the mathematical modeling of a half-car model for an ICE vehicle that incorporates secondary unbalanced forces of the engine. It also explores a complex vehicle–bridge interaction system, considering both road roughness and sinusoidal bumps. Furthermore, it compares the dynamic responses of an equivalent EV model traversing this complex bridge, with a conventional ICE vehicle, providing new insights into the distinct characteristics of EV suspensions.
