Title: Energy utilization of electric and hybrid vehicles and their impact on US national energy consumption

Authors: P.D. Agarwal

Addresses: Head of the Electrical Engineering Department General Motors Research Laboratories, Warren, Michigan, USA

Abstract: This paper discusses energy utilization and the power train efficiency of electric and electric/flywheel hybrid vehicles. The results of EVSIM (a digital simulation program) and test data obtained from a mini-computer controlled dynamometer facility are presented. It is shown that the marginal improvement in vehicle range that results from the application of regenerative braking does not justify the complexity of its controls. Similarly, the electric/flywheel hybrid is not an attractive and practical scheme because of its additional cost, complexity, and poor performance at constant speeds. It shows that even with coal as the prime energy source, an electric car is not energy conservative. Less coal is consumed when it is liquefied for use in an IC engine vehicle than when it is burned to generate electricity to provide the same transportation in an electric vehicle even with the most advanced nickel/zinc batteries.

Keywords: hybrid electric vehicles; hybrid vehicles; energy utilisation; national energy consumption; computer modelling; fuel efficiency; electric vehicle range; vehicle performance; battery technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.1982.061289

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 1982 Vol.3 No.4, pp.436 - 449

Published online: 25 May 2014 *

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