Influence of Working Conditions and Operating Parameters on the Energy Consumption of a Full-Electric Bus. Experimental Assessment

Given the growing interest in improving the efficiency of the bus fleet in public transportation systems, this paper presents an analysis of the energy consumption of a battery electric bus. During the experimental campaign, a battery electric bus was loaded using sand payloads to simulate the passenger load on board and followed another bus during regular service. Data related to the energy consumed by various bus utilities were published on the vehicle’s CAN network using the FMS standard and sampled at a frequency of 1 Hz. The collected experimental data were initially analyzed on a daily basis and then on a per-route basis. The results reveal the breakdown of energy consumption among various utilities over the course of each day of the experiment, highlighting those responsible for the highest energy consumption. Subsequently, the relationship between the energy consumption of the traction motor and the climate control system was investigated concerning environmental parameters such as total distance traveled, time taken to complete the service, average speed, driver’s driving style, route characteristics, internal temperature, external temperature, and the air conditioning system’s reference temperature while the bus was in service.