Effect of Real-World Driving and Drive Modes on Electric Vehicle Energy Consumption and Performance in a Tier-II Indian City

Electric vehicles (EVs) are tested for their driving performance, energy consumption (EC), and electric range in a chassis dynamometer laboratory as per the test procedure of the Automotive Industry Standards (AIS) in India. However, a laboratory test is different from a real-world test. In this study, the test vehicle is an experimental EV conversion car developed for the study. The EV uses a prototype conversion kit consisting of an indigenously built three-phase induction motor and Lithium-ion battery (LiB) pack. The study reports a detailed discussion on the real-world as well as laboratory tests conducted for the EV. It provides an intuition of the real-world tests conducted on the selected traffic routes of a Tier-II Indian city (Dehradun city) using a data logger with multiple sensors. It investigates the effect of real-world driving and different drive-modes (idling, acceleration, deceleration, and cruising) on the EC and performance of the EV. The real-world tests follow the car-chasing technique. The study shows that the average real-world EC of all-route is 145.83 Wh/km, and laboratory EC is 88.10 Wh/km. It reveals that the average real-world EC is higher than the laboratory baseline data by 41.97%, 65.40%, 89.39% on the congested-, medium-, and low-traffic routes, respectively. It also performs the analysis of percentage contribution of the drive modes to the load current, EC, and input power using the road cycle and driving cycle analysis. This study is a novel attempt to understand and determine the EC, usability, and performance of the EV in real-world conditions on the Tier-II city roads for achieving a better driving range. It attempts to find out the energy-efficient route, the gap between the real-world EC data, and the reference laboratory data. The study highlights the importance of addressing real-world features in reviewing and improving the dynamometer cycle and future EC regulations for EVs. © 2020 SAE. All Rights Reserved.