Create Greener Commutes with Computational Fluid Dynamics!

Micro mobility in the form of electric motorbikes, bicycles, e-scooters, and mopeds are populating metropolitan cities as well as semi-urban locations to endorse and encourage environment-friendly modes of commute. Higher parking fees, tolls, and road taxes are future measures that might be enacted upon by road transport organizations against private ownership of vehicles. In the US, as per the Build Back Better bill, one can save up to $900 on the purchase of an e-bike. Companies such as Streetlogic and Terranet are adding value to the e-bike experience with their computer vision-based technology that detects dangers and alerts warnings. To join the green commute upheaval, we have BMW introduce their electric motorbike this year – BMW CE 04, made possible after 10 long years of determination and hard work from the team’s end. In the current era, where solutions are expected to be quick and reliable, computational fluid dynamics has a lot to offer in terms of new mobility design and analysis. With small-scale and large-scale organizations on the neck-to-neck mission towards sustainable transportation, CFD technology can help expand the drive range and stability of different models of green automotive.

Vehicle manufacturers from the early stages of vehicle design are interested in reducing the aerodynamic drag for optimum results. Higher speeds with reduced power consumption are the outcome of a low-drag vehicular body. But a low drag design often reduces the stability of the vehicle. Hence achieving a balance between drag and lift forces is substantial for aerodynamic performance and this can be achieved using CFD simulations. Storm Pulse, an electric motorcycle, was intelligently designed to increase its driving range through CFD studies on aerodynamics, air resistance, and drag force using the SIMULIA CFD software. Using this first-ever electric touring motorcycle, team Storm Eindhoven toured around the world in 80 days.

We also have the Nova electric bikes developed by the DREAM team at the Delft University of Technology, using CFD solutions for improved stability and reduced drag. They started their journey in 2007 with biodiesel-run bikes and today, the 12th team of Nova electric racing is working towards their fifth model of fully electric motorbike. While designing racing bikes, the physique of the rider also needs to be accounted for. For example, a moving bike with a rider and a pillion would require more power to overcome the drag in comparison to one with just the rider. Bikes with aesthetic and protection accessories such as steel frames and fork sliders are drag-inducing parts, while downforce generating aerodynamic wings on wheels that were first experimented by Ducati on their Desmosedici Moto GP bike in 2015 became a must-have for racing bikes.

With no performance loss, a 100% conversion from fuel-powered to electric vehicles is possible by offering a longer and faster drive. This high-performance obligation imposes pressure on the batteries to withstand high temperatures. Designing the most appropriate thermal management system while keeping costs, time, and competitive edge under control, require new engineering methodologies where CFD simulation plays an important role. 

With an increase in temperature, the electrochemical reactions inside the battery can become explosive or there is an expected leakage of the battery contents. Moreover, the casing cover, nuts, and bolts holding the battery together are also affected by the high temperature. To avoid temperature built-up, the arrangement of cell stacks and their modules should be such that there is sufficient spacing for easy flow of coolant and removal of heat from the batteries. As a solution to this hurdle, CFD simulations help in deciding on the best cooling system which could be either using air or liquid coolants, thermoelectric methods, heat pipe, or phase change materials depending on the vehicle dynamics and configuration. The impeccable speed at which different design ideas can be modeled and analyzed puts CFD technology under the spotlight.

With batteries accounting for up to 45% of the electric vehicle cost, mobile fleet owners need to invest in cloud-based battery management systems to improve uptime and to extend battery life. Ion Energy Labs and Eatron are two players in the cloud-based battery management system that use AI to get real-time battery performance data and predictive analytics for early response to battery failures. Pressure mapping is another technology that helps in predicting the performance of batteries. Very low and or high internal pressure can cause delamination and increase internal impedance.

At Cadence, our portfolio products enable our users to do more with less energy input. Our Computational Fluid Dynamics software is one such offering that is evolving to meet the needs of the current green automotive initiatives i.e. increased drive range and stability of EVs. As part of our initiative to combat climate change, we have set a greenhouse gas reduction target of 15% by 2025 over our 2019 baseline emissions. Our EDA technology has helped Analog Devices in developing the industry’s first wireless battery management system, Pinnacle, which is expected to be installed in the General Motors range of EVs including Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyric. We also support university incubation programs and early start-ups in their sustainable innovative journey from bootstrapping to product launch. With all these efforts, we plan on leading a tomorrow that is cleaner and greener.