Modeling Energy Consumption in Urban Electric Transport: An Adapted Approach Incorporating Operational Factors

The article addresses the problem of estimating the specific electric energy consumption of urban electric transport under real operating conditions. It is substantiated that standardized driving cycles and rated energy consumption values do not always accurately reflect the actual operating modes of vehicles on urban routes, since energy consumption is affected by speed conditions, road conditions, passenger load, ambient temperature, auxiliary systems operation, and the number of stops, accelerations, and braking events. A simplified engineering model is proposed for adjusting the baseline specific electric energy consumption by means of a system of correction factors, which makes it possible to adapt the calculation to specific operating conditions under limited availability of telematics data. A distinctive feature of the proposed approach is the possibility of using a baseline energy consumption value determined from a driving cycle or vehicle specification data, followed by its adjustment according to the characteristics of an actual route. The proposed methodology was experimentally verified using certified trolleybus test data representing a vehicle with characteristics similar to a 12 m urban battery electric bus; however, further validation using dedicated battery electric bus datasets is required. For the reference vehicle operating on route No. 15 in Lutsk, with a route length of 10.2 km, the calculated electric energy consumption was 17.853 kWh at full mass and 12.498 kWh at curb mass, corresponding to approximately 1.75 and 1.23 kWh/km, respectively. The results were compared with experimental data and recent literature sources. The proposed methodology is intended for preliminary engineering assessment of electric energy consumption when detailed operational data are unavailable.