In the process of sufficiently considering fuel economy of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the working time of engine will be reduced accordingly. The increased frequency that the three-way catalytic converter (TWCC) works in abnormal operating temperature will lead to the increasing of emissions. This paper proposes the equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) to ensure the catalyst temperature of PHEV can work in highly efficient areas, and the influence of catalyst temperature on fuel economy and emissions is considered. The simulation results show that the fixed equivalent factor of ECMS has great limitations for the underutilized battery power and the poor fuel economy. In order to further reduce fuel consumption and keep the emission unchanged, an equivalent factor map based on initial state of charge (SOC) and vehicle mileage is established by the genetic algorithm. Furthermore, an Adaptive changing equivalent factor is achieved by using the following strategy of SOC trajectory. Ultimately, adaptive equivalent consumption minimization strategy (A-ECMS) considering catalyst temperature is proposed. The simulation results show that compared with ordinary ECMS, HC, CO, and NOX are reduced by 14.6%, 20.3%, and 25.8%, respectively, which effectively reduces emissions. But the fuel consumption is increased by only 2.3%. To show that the proposed method can be used in actual driving conditions, it is tested on the World Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTC).
