Method of Test and Measurements of Fuel Consumption Due to Air Conditioning Operation on the New Prius II Hybrid Vehicle

The new Prius hybrid vehicle uses an electrical scroll compressor which speed is controlled by an inverter. The control is integrated in the vehicle global control system. The paper presents the way to take into account the state of charge (SOC) of the batteries to run reproducible tests and in order that the battery charge is identical both at the end and at the beginning of the test.

The vehicle fuel consumption has been analyzed with and without the air conditioning (AC) system running and for two different climatic conditions. Moreover tests have been carried out for the measurement of the electrical consumption of the AC system.

Conclusions are drawn on the interest of electrical AC system compared to mechanical AC system for hybrid vehicles. The impact of the control system is also analysed and presented.