Impact of Rolling Resistance Modeling on Energy Consumption for a Low Voltage Battery Electric Vehicle

A promising form of transportation, particularly in cities, is the use of compact and lightweight passenger cars with low-voltage electric traction system drives. Energy efficiency is a key factor for these applications to enhance performance and extend range. Energy-efficient control techniques and optimal design methodology can be used to minimize the vehicle's power losses in different operating conditions. These methods rely on the electric drive module model and the estimation of power losses at the vehicle level. A representative model of energy losses at tire ground contact is essential for an accurate prediction of energy consumption. Most of the existing literature about energy management on hybrid and electric vehicles accounts for rolling resistance as a constant or speed-dependent term. The present work proposes a modeling approach of the rolling resistance as a function of tire slip and longitudinal vehicle speed. Several vehicle simulations have been performed using a forward model of the retained 52 V battery electric vehicle (BEV). To demonstrate the contribution of dissipation due to tire slip, the effect of rolling resistance losses on energy consumption is assessed in urban driving cycles.