The Sensitivity in Consumption of Different Vehicle Drivetrain Concepts Under Varying Operating Conditions: A Simulative Data Driven Approach

Abstract

As an important aspect of today’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the energy demand of passenger cars is a subject of research. Different drivetrain concepts like plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) are introduced into the market in addition to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV) to address this issue. However, the consumption highly depends on individual usage profiles and external operating conditions, especially when considering secondary energy demands like heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). The approach presented in this work aims to estimate vehicle consumptions based on real world driving profiles and weather data under consideration of secondary demands. For this purpose, a primary and a secondary consumption model are developed that interact with each other to estimate realistic vehicle consumptions for different drivetrain concepts. The models are parametrized by referring to state of the art contributions and the results are made plausible by comparison to literature. The sensitivities of the consumptions are then analysed as a function of trip distance and ambient temperature to assess the influence of the operating conditions on the consumption. The results show that especially in the case of the BEV and PHEV, the trip distance and the ambient temperature are a first-order influencing factor on the total vehicle energy demand. Thus, it is not sufficient to evaluate new vehicle concepts solely on one-dimensional driving cycles to assess their energy demand. Instead, the external conditions must be taken into account for a proper assessment of the vehicle’s real world consumption.