Title: A new method to estimate the range of electric vehicles without using exact motor parameters

Authors: Mehmet Ugras Cuma; Murat Mustafa Savrun

Addresses: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Cukurova University, Balcali, Saricam, Adana, 01330, Turkey ' Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Cukurova University, Balcali, Saricam, Adana, 01330, Turkey

Abstract: Range estimation for electric vehicles (EVs) is an important point to have carefree use. Motor loss parameters are required to estimate the range of EVs. However, many electric motor manufacturers do not provide these parameters without special permissions. Besides, at the design stage of EV, many motor alternatives must be considered. This complicates the permission process as there are several suppliers to deal with. Instead of these parameters, torque-speed curve and efficiency map are presented in the electric motor datasheets. This paper presents a novel range estimation method that uses efficiency map instead of motor parameters to calculate the motor losses. To validate the proposed method, both simulation and experimental studies are carried out on a midi-bus. Furthermore, the effect of different battery capacities on the range of a heavy electric vehicle is examined.

Keywords: efficiency maps; electric vehicle range; range estimation; heavy electric vehicles; torque-speed curves; motor losses; simulation; midibuses; electric buses; battery capacity; heavy vehicles.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2016.079304

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2016 Vol.23 No.4, pp.333 - 349

Received: 29 May 2015
Accepted: 30 Mar 2016

Published online: 26 Sep 2016 *

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