The influence of driving patterns on energy consumption in electric car driving and the role of regenerative braking

:Electric mobility is seen as a major means to improve energy efficiency and to reduce CO2 emissions in the traffic sector. But so far, little is known about the vehicle specific factors that influence energy consumption. This paper investigates whether the driving pattern parameters that have proved to be relevant for the fuel consumption of internal combustion vehicles (ICVs) also apply to battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The effect of the BEVs' ability to regenerate energy from braking is examined in particular. In order to measure driving patterns, four commercially used BEVs were equipped with tracking devices to record GPS and energy data over the course of several months. The driving patterns are described in 45 parameters that are calculated for segments of the logged driving profiles. Suitable correlation coefficients are calculated to check for dependencies with energy consumption. The most significant correlations were found for combined speed and acceleration parameters, in particular the relative positive acceleration. The correlations identified, however, were smaller than expected. The regenerative braking effect appears to be one responsible aspect.