Battery Electric Vehicles Energy Consumption Breakdown from On-Road Trips ¹

Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) sales have been spiking up due to a series of factors: zero tailpipe emissions, wider model availability, increased customer acceptance, reduced purchase price, improved performance and range. The latter is a crucial factor the consumers consider when purchasing a BEV, and it largely depends on how the vehicle operates (e.g. average speed), traffic, ambient conditions, and battery size. When driven on the roads, the actual range of BEVs can be significantly smaller than the certified value obtained from laboratory testing at standard conditions. To understand the factors influencing vehicle range in real-world operation, the study team performed on-road tests on three production passenger vehicles currently available in the European market. The measured quantities, including vehicle signals from OBD/UDS, were used to quantify the vehicle energy consumption. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data was used to calculate vehicle positioning and resistances, including altitude. Findings show an average consumption of 201.5 Wh/km for mid-sized passenger cars, ranging between 150 to 293.4 Wh/km (minimum and maximum observed values from a B-Segment vehicle and a 9-Seater VAN, respectively). Ambient temperature is one of the factors introducing a high variability in real-world energy consumption, as electric energy is used both for cabin heating and cooling, which might lead to range reductions of 30-50 % under extreme conditions. An energy breakdown is presented for each trip, describing the typical share of propulsion, cooling/heating needs and other auxiliaries.