Experimental Test Campaign on a Battery Electric Vehicle: On-Road Test Results (Part 2) 2015-01-1166

The experimental measurement of the energy consumption and efficiency of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are key topics to determine their usability and performance in real-world conditions. This paper aims to present the results of a test campaign carried out on a BEV, representative of the most common technology available today on the market. The vehicle is a 5-seat car, equipped with an 80 kW synchronous electric motor powered by a 24 kWh Li-Ion battery. The description and discussion of the experimental results is split into 2 parts: Part 1 focuses on laboratory tests, whereas Part 2 focuses on the on-road tests.

As far as on-road tests are concerned, the vehicle has been tested over three different on-road routes, ranging from 60 to 90 km each, with a driving time ranging from approximately one and half to two and half hours. The routes have been designed to include different pathways (i.e. city driving, rural roads and highway), different vehicle speeds and road slopes that could be encountered in real-world driving. The influence of the driving modes of the vehicle (i.e. normal versus economic driving mode (ECO) drive) on the energy consumption and range has been also addressed. The results show that the energy consumption of the vehicle ranges from 111 to 148 Wh/km (i.e. equivalent gasoline consumption from 1.2 to 1.7 l/100km) in normal driving mode, depending on the route. The ECO driving mode shows lower energy consumption compared to the normal driving mode, with higher energy recuperation from regenerative braking. The driving range calculated with an abbreviated test approach goes from 139 to 185 km in normal driving mode, and up to 188 km for the ECO mode.

The paper provides the reader with a detailed description of the measurement equipment and setup adopted during the tests, setting the background for future technical analyses and experimental campaigns.