Drive Cycle Tests – Understanding the Energy Use of a Vehicle
One of the current big topics in electric vehicles is range and how far they can go on a given battery charge. In order to determine how far a vehicle can go, the EPA and governing bodies around the world have determined drive cycles. These are determined considering how an average driver might act in different circumstances. The diagram below shows a variety of different drive cycle examples.
Essentially, a drive cycle is a speed profile against time with given torques to provide acceleration rates. What is found is that the losses while accelerating or decelerating are different from measuring each of these points at a steady state. In order to find out how far a vehicle can go, power during a transient needs to be measured accurately.