Simulation analysis of electric vehicles energy consumption in driving tests

The assessment of energy flow through electric vehicle systems makes estimating their energy consumption possible. The article presents analyzes of the energy consumption of electric vehicles in selected driving tests (NEDC, WLTC and in real traffic conditions – RDC test) in relation to the vehicles different curb weight. The use of electric motors was also analyzed, providing their operating ranges, data of the energy flow in batteries and the change in their charge level. Simulation tests and analyzes were carried out using the AVL Cruise software. It was found that despite similar vehicle energy consumption values in NEDC and RDC testing, there are significant differences in energy flow in vehicle subsystems. The changes in the battery charge level per 100 km of test drive are similar in both the WLTC and RDC tests (6% difference); for the NEDC test, this difference is the greatest at 25% (compared to the previous tests). The energy consumption of electric vehicles depends significantly on the test itself; the values obtained in the tests are in the ranges of 10.1–13.5 kWh/100 km (NEDC test); 13–15 kWh/100 km (WLTC test) and 12.5–16.2 kWh/100 km in the RDC test. The energy consumption values in the NEDC and WLTC tests, compared to the RDC test, are approximately 20% and 10% lower, respectively. Increasing the vehicle mass increases the energy consumption (increasing the vehicle mass by 100 kg was found to increase the energy consumption by 0.34 kWh/100 km).