A Close Up View of a Comparative Test on Electric Vehicle Batteries in ENEA

ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and the Environment) has been involved in research and development in the transport sector since the '80s, to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact. Specific testing facilities have been set up in ENEA Casaccia Research Center to perform such activities: a battery test laboratory with test-bench and climatic chambers, a test track for EVs, a fleet of electric passenger cars and vans, a roller bench for medium-size vehicles and a test bed for the complete drivetrains of electric and hybrid vehicles.

A test aimed at comparing bench and on-board performance of lead-acid batteries was carried out on a VRLA system, equipping a Panda Larel, using test benches for battery cycling in thermal chambers, a track and the roller stand. For the track testing of a vehicle a special cycle was elaborated, that is similar in some specific properties to the ECE 15, an European cycle proposed for evaluating energy consumption. A similar battery has been tested using a duty- cycle directly derived from the track test. First results show a close correlation between range performance on the road and in the laboratory for the two packs.