Electric Vehicle Energy Consumption Simulation by Modeling the Efficiency of Driveline Components

The feasibility of improving the energy efficiency of Electric Vehicles (EV) by manipulating operation points by means of a variable transmission is investigated with an efficient mathematical model of power losses in all driveline components. Introduced model can be solved in real-time making it possible to embed it to a control scheme of EV. Empirical test results are employed to derive the efficiency of the power electronics and electric motor at operation points while the mechanical power losses are predicted by a comprehensive and generic formulation for efficiency analysis. The simulation model used comprises electrical component efficiency, drivetrain inertias, gearbox efficiency, regenerative braking, and gear ratio selection. Three different transmission types are studied in this work; a single reduction gear, a five-step gearbox and an Infinitely Variable Transmission.