Drive Cycle-Based Estimation of Energy Consumption for Electric Two-Wheeler

Abstract

The transportation sector is the backbone of the economic growth of any country. However, the heavy dependence of this sector on petroleum fuel is a matter of concern for sustainable development. To address this issue countries are working toward green energy-based transportation, and among all viable solutions electric vehicles (EVs) are emerging as front runners. Range anxiety is one of the most prominent concerns in EV adoption. The range of a vehicle depends on the energy consumption so it becomes crucial to estimate it very precisely. There are many standard drive cycles such as the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and Worldwide harmonized Light-duty Vehicle Test Cycles (WLTC) which are used for the estimation of energy consumption. However, these standard cycles fail to capture the driving behavior of real traffic. Due to this reason, these standard cycles underestimate the energy consumption compared with actual consumption. For more realistic energy requirement estimations, researchers are focusing on the development of real-world drive cycles specific to a particular geography. In this paper, a real-world drive cycle of electric two-wheeler has been developed for the city of Lucknow, India, and compared with the driving characteristics and energy consumption estimates of WLTC. The energy requirement per km for the Lucknow drive cycle and WLTC are found as 14.89 Wh/km and 11.95 Wh/km, respectively, which indicates per km energy required estimation for LDC is 24.60% higher than WLTC.