Development of the Power- and Usage-based Simulator for evaluating Off-road Mobile Machinery Energy Consumption

This paper presents the development of a new vehicle simulation software, the Power- and Usage-Based Simulator Tool (referred to as the Power-Based Model), designed to predict fuel consumption and evaluate advanced powertrain technologies for off-road mobile machinery. The Power-Based Model integrates current research on fuel consumption simulation in the off-road vehicle sector and serves as a platform to pilot the development of advanced powertrain technologies such as battery-electric and fuel cell powertrains. The tool is aimed at predicting the necessary battery capacity and hydrogen storage requirements when transitioning to these advanced powertrains, thereby facilitating component sizing and fuel consumption reduction calculations. The Power-Based Model was developed with a strong focus on the unique operational characteristics of off-road machinery, ensuring that it realistically reflects real-world energy consumption and the competitive advantages of various fuel-saving technologies. This paper describes the simulation tool, its key features, and summarizes the most critical future updates under investigation. Additionally, an initial validation of the tool’s performance against real-world measurement data is presented, highlighting its capability to accurately simulate vehicle energy consumption. The results suggest good test reproducibility, but further development is still needed to accurately reflect real-world energy consumption of off-road mobile machinery.