Influence of driving style, infrastructure, weather and traffic on electric vehicle performance

Internal and external circumstances affect a vehicles’ fuel consumption. Various studies reviewed internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) energy consumption. While Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are expected to replace ICEVs, more research is necessary to understand their energy performance. To fill this research gap, a microscopic traffic model and an energy prediction model were combined to estimate the effects of driving styles, weather, traffic and infrastructure on the energy consumption of BEVs. By using a VISSIM model, various scenarios were tested. This resulted in a qualitative insight into the energy consumption and travel time, which was validated by performing 30 driving tests and by using dynamometer data. The results indicate that built environment variables have a large effect on the energy consumption of BEVs. An increasing traffic intensity has been found to not always increase the energy consumption. Moreover, the energy consumption can be decreased by choosing a more energy-efficient route.