Analysis and identification of discrepancies between test data and simulation results using an automated EV range analysis tool

With growing consumer interest in electric vehicles due to their advantages over traditional internal combustion engine cars, including instant torque and enhanced safety, comprehensive testing of these vehicles has become crucial. Engineers are faced with the challenge of managing the large amounts of data generated during testing. This work aims to develop an automated framework for data processing and simulation of on-road test data and generate reports to monitor inconsistencies. To achieve this, range tests were conducted across various regions and each test data was processed using the EV range analysis tool to check for inconsistencies if any. It was observed that there was a mismatch between the tested and simulated range at expressways. This was due to the unrealistic extrapolation of the vehicle’s coastdown forces above 120 kmph. Hence, tests were conducted to measure the coastdown forces of the vehicle above 120 kmph which was then used in simulation to estimate the range numbers correctly. In addition, most of the tests showed high accelerations and decelerations which led to driver discomfort. Simulations of these tests showed that optimizing the acceleration and deceleration limits will improve the range with an added advantage of driver comfort. So, a new drive mode was generated by optimizing the acceleration and deceleration limits to improve the range and driver comfort by compromising in vehicle performance. Lastly, wheel slip was observed in tests where the vehicle was driven on slippery roads. This resulted in a difference between the regeneration percentage obtained in the test and its simulation equivalent. Thus, these tests were ignored, and such roads were avoided for further tests. Thus, the EV range analysis tool helped in pinpointing the root cause issues within minutes which would have taken hours unless otherwise. Once an issue was diagnosed, necessary actions were taken to resolve the issue.