Small vs Large BEV and ICE Vehicles: A Few Real Life Clarifications

Simple modelling often leads to valid general conclusions, but in some cases these simplifications do not apply equally to different systems, as is the case for energy consumption, in particular when comparing internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric vehicles (EVs). For instance basic vehicle modelling lead to broad brush statements like “small is efficient”. While this is substantially true for ICE powertrains, such commonsense statements turn out to be less accurate when real vehicles are concerned, in particular EVs. This paper attempts to qualitatively explain these discrepancies and underlines the importance of comparing real data with theoretical expectations, since “everything else being equal” does not always happen in reality and such results can at best be used as guidelines. The multiple impacts of battery size in this context are also analyzed, as well as considerations about real vehicle use and potential future regulatory approaches.