Effects of Frontal Area and Road Characteristics on the Energy Efficiency of Electric Buses: A Simulation Study

In this study, the energy consumption of a 10.5 m, 12,500 kg electric bus was modelled in MATLAB/Simulink under varying frontal areas and road conditions. Vehicle specifications were kept constant, while only frontal area and the rolling resistance coefficient, depending on road conditions, were altered. The analysis was based on the first and second trapezoids (30 km/h and 50 km/h) of the SORT-3 cycle. The results indicate that increasing the frontal area by 20% raised the energy consumption by approximately 2–3%. In contrast, the influence of road surface was far more significant, with gravel roads causing 35–40% higher consumption compared to asphalt. Regenerative braking reduced net energy demand, with recovery ratios of 35–41% on asphalt and 27–31% on gravel. The findings show that in the planning and operation of electric bus fleets, considering both aerodynamic design and route surface conditions is decisive for improving energy efficiency.