A Computationally Inexpensive Battery Model for the Microscopic Simulation of Electric Vehicles

The transition from classic combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles is a major step to reduce worldwide CO2 emissions. In order to correctly and efficiently investigate impacts on the electric grid and the dimensioning of charging infrastructure, or to explore new technologies for a further increase of the driving range, realistic simulation models are required. In this paper, we present an accurate yet computationally inexpensive battery and kinematic model to be used in microscopic traffic simulation to help study the performance of thousands of electric vehicles. Our model also supports recuperation and range extender modules while only relying on the vehicle's speed and a set of constant predefined parameters. It can therefore be easily coupled with current sophisticated traffic simulators. We show its applicability and correctness regarding the State of Charge and power flows using comprehensive real-life experiments.