Evaluating the Energy Consumption of an Electric Vehicle under Real-World Driving Conditions

This investigation evaluates the energy consumption of an electric vehicle (EV) and identifies key factors that affect its energy efficiency, based on real-world operation for a range of driving characteristics and climate conditions over nearly four years in the streets of the second-largest UK city. The driving modes investigated were acceleration, deceleration, idling and cruise, determined by dividing each individual trip into kinematic segments based on vehicle speed and acceleration calculated second by second. From the results obtained, the EV energy consumption is directly influenced by changes in ambient temperature outside, largely due to the corresponding loads required from the use of auxiliary systems, mainly heating and air conditioning. An increase in trip idling events directly translates to a rise in EV energy consumption, while opposite outcomes were produced during cruising state with decreasing energy consumption. During the periods of high traffic on weekdays, the energy consumption is increased by nearly 15% as a direct impact of the increase in the number of stops, as the auxiliaries still require energy while the vehicle is at idle. The difference in energy consumption between weekday and weekend driving occurs mainly during heavy traffic periods, increasing by 20% on weekdays, primarily due to the rise in the number of stops for weekday driving. The results also show that the EV specific energy consumption varies each month, reaching a 55% increase from summer of least energy consumption to winter with the most requires energy, mainly due to large average ambient temperature changes.