Influence of battery temperature on long-distance trip of an electric vehicle: Insights from driving and charging tests

Long-distance travel with a battery electric vehicle involves fast charging and highway driving. The operating temperature of lithium-ion batteries significantly influences the vehicle's performance, especially the charging time with fast chargers. This paper investigates the impact of battery temperature on long-distance vehicle travel. It quantifies the impact of battery temperature on overall travel time, energy consumption, and remaining State of Charge at the end of travel. A vehicle model is formulated referencing the second-generation Nissan Leaf. The Energetic Macroscopic Representation formalism is used to organize the vehicle model. The model is validated using experimental data obtained from real-world highway driving cycles and fast-charging sessions. The simulated current closely reproduces the experimental behavior, with a Normalized Mean Absolute Error (NMAE) below 4%. The maximum cumulative energy error observed across the charging tests is 6.9%, while the driving test shows an energy error of 2.79%. Simulation is performed with two configurations, one incorporating the battery temperature impact and the other excluding it, to quantify the influence of temperature. The results show a difference of 56.81 min (23.28%) in total travel time solely due to the charging session and a difference in Energy-to-SoC Ratio of up to 4.99%. The results demonstrate the operational limitations of passive thermal management systems during long-distance travel. Battery temperature significantly affects travel time, particularly when fast charging is required.