EleMA: A reference simulation model architecture and interface standard for modeling and testing of electric vehicles Christian Granrath a, * , Max-Arno Meyer a , Jakob Andert a , Jens Ewald b , Roberto Klink c , Christoph Stroh d , Thinh Pham e , Richard Phillips f , Carl Hettig b , Leonardo Santaroni g , Markus Deppe h , Omar Hegazy i a RWTH Aachen University, Junior Professorship for Mechatronic Systems for Combustion Engines, Germany b FEV Europe GmbH, Germany c DENSO Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Germany d Magna Powertrain, Engineering Center Steyr GmbH & Co KG, Germany e TNO Powertrains Department, Germany f Yasa Motors, Germany g IVECO S.p.A, Germany h DSPACE GmbH, Germany i Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), MOBI Research Center & ETEC Dept, Germany article info Article history: Received 27 February 2020 Received in revised form 8 April 2020 Accepted 26 April 2020 Available online 15 May 2020 Keywords: Reference architecture Battery-electric-vehicle Systems engineering XiL-simulation-model Standardization abstract In automotive development, simulation models are gaining significance, in particular in the early phases of verification and validation. According to the current state-of-the-art, there is no standardized simu- lation framework to achieve a seamless transition in the conception, implementation and integration of complex system simulations. In this paper, a reference simulation model architecture for electric vehicles is presented, which is proposed as a standard for real-time and non-real-time closed-loop simulations. The proposed Electric Modeling Architecture (EleMA) is intended as an extension of standardized model exchange formats by defining standardized, functional and signal-based interfaces of electric vehicle simulation models. It is designed independently of the utilized tool chain or exchange format of the simulation model components and enables their functional compatibility and exchangeability. Initially, an overview of standardized model exchange formats as well as the main design ideas of the proposed reference architecture are presented, followed by a short description of the applied specifi- cation methodology. EleMA provides all users a reference model including the contained components, a formalized description in the form of use case diagrams and a definition of the variant-independent component interfaces for each individual component. The implementation of simulation model com- ponents according to EleMA guarantees from an architectural point of view a functional compatibility of the elements on system level and thus improves reusability and exchangeability of simulation compo- nents. The last section demonstrates use cases to highlight the advantages of the reference architecture and quantifies the average effort reduction exemplary for one use case. © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Simulation models are gaining increasing importance in the context of verification and validation within the sector of auto- motive development. Under the conditions of constantly shortened development cycles and increased cost pressure, development sectors such as powertrain electrification, virtual calibration, con- nectivity, highly networked architectures and highly autonomous driving require the use of increasingly complex simulation models [1]. Especially in early development phases, simulation models can be used to shift development activities to earlier phases (fron- tloading) [2]. For example, closed-loop real-time simulation can be used for early testing of electric motors (Electric Motor-in-the- Loop) [3], control units such as hybrid control units [4] and development of predictive driving algorithms [5]. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: granrath_c@vka.rwth-aachen.de (C. Granrath). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect eTransportation journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/etransportation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etran.2020.100060 2590-1168/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. eTransportation 4 (2020) 100060