Abstract
D.Ing. (Electrical & Electronic Engineering Science)
In the light of a history of more than a century, and reviving
interest over the last three decades, battery powered electric
vehicles are seen as one of the contributing technologies to
alleviate transport problems in the future.
This thesis is concerned with the use of energy in road
transport. In particular, some selected aspects of the
application of battery powered road vehicles are addressed.
The thesis gives a brief background history and reviews the
forces and factors which presently play a role in the
developments and future application of battery electric vehicles.
The main contribution, however, lies in the field of technical
clarification of some aspects of electric vehicle theoretical
analysis, which have not been addressed before.
The first of these technical subjects is the analysis of energy
consumption of vehicles when operating under non-steady driving
conditions. The analysis results in simple but relevant
expressions for the energy consumption of any moving vehicle
during start-stop driving, as well as driving over a hilly route.
The potential benefit of kinetic energy recovery can be
quantitatively determined. The theory is then applied to battery
electric vehicles and the results are compared to actual recorded
energy consumption figures.
The second technical investigation concerns the optimisation of
electric vehicle drive systems with respect to mass. It is shown
that optimized drive systems should be designed to suit both the
energy density characteristics of the batteries used, as well as
the particular characteristics of the drive cycle to which the
vehicles will be applied.