The effect of driving style on electric vehicle performance, economy and perception

It has long been known that driving style has a major impact on the efficiency of conventional combustion engine powered vehicles. Particular aspects of conventional driving such as harsh acceleration and deceleration and poor anticipation have been demonstrated to be unfavourable for clear technical reasons relating to the efficiency of the internal combustion engine at particular speeds and loads. Furthermore, definite trends have been identified in terms of the relationship between age and driving style for conventional vehicles. Little work has been done in this area using electric vehicles. This paper addresses this by presenting a detailed study of the performance of a number of drivers around a standard route in an electric vehicle. In addition to highlighting how particular aspects of driving style influence power consumption and regeneration. We also look at how the drivers perceived the electric vehicle compared to conventional vehicles of the same class.