Help with Automotive Engineering Master’s Thesis Topic – Electric Bus Energy Simulation
Hello everyone,
I am currently trying to choose a topic for my master’s thesis, and I would appreciate some ideas from people with experience in automotive engineering, EVs, or public transport.
At the moment, I am doing an internship at a small company that is developing an electric city bus. The company is mainly responsible for the electric powertrain, including the electric motor, gearbox/differential, battery system, and power electronics, while the complete bus platform is being developed together with an existing bus manufacturer.
During my internship, I developed a longitudinal simulation model of an electric bus in MATLAB. The model is used to estimate energy consumption based on vehicle parameters and driving profiles. I have implemented standard driving cycles as well as real-world bus routes, so the model can estimate the energy consumption of a specific bus line in a specific city.
However, I feel that a basic energy consumption calculation may be too simple for a full master’s thesis, so I am looking for a meaningful extension of this work. I would like to build on what I have already done, but add enough technical depth and research value.
I have been quite overloaded with work recently, so I am having a hard time stepping back and thinking creatively about possible thesis directions.
One of the thesis candidates I am currently considering is to develop an eco-driving strategy together with a regenerative brake blending strategy and implement both in my MATLAB simulation. For the eco-driving part, the idea would be to create different driving scenarios, for example aggressive and non-aggressive driving, based mainly on different acceleration and deceleration behaviour, and then compare their influence on energy consumption, regenerative braking, and mechanical braking. The brake blending part would focus on how much of the braking demand can be covered by regenerative braking and when mechanical brakes are needed. If possible, I would also try to validate at least part of the model or strategy using the real prototype/demo bus on a test track.
Another possible direction I am considering is mechanical brake wear reduction through regenerative braking, since this could also be connected to non-exhaust particle emissions from brake wear.
My main question is:
What would be a good master’s thesis topic that extends electric bus energy consumption analysis into something more advanced and research-worthy?
Any suggestions, ideas, or examples of similar thesis topics would be very helpful.
Thank you.