The Toyota Corolla, with a 1.8L engine, consumes 6.2 L of gas to travel 100 km on the highway. However, on city roads, it will have to use 7.9 liters of fuel. 2022’s Ford F-150 requires 9.4 and 12.1 Liters per 100 km for city and highway driving, according to.
Traditional automobiles powered by fuel, driven by internal combustion engines, offer better mileage on highways in comparison to city roads. Many elements can impact the efficiency of moving vehicles.
The first is that internal combustion engines have been designed to ensure that their efficiency increases at speeds that are closer to highway speeds. In addition, unlike the highway, city driving requires more frequent brakes and accelerations. Every time a car powered by fuel accelerates, it requires much more power than what it could require to keep its speed. When it stops, the energy is lost through heat at the brake pads.
All of these elements can result in better gas mileage when driving on the highway when compared with city driving.
Auto Drive explains how electric car batteries function.
Power usage
BEVs, also known as battery electric vehicles (BEVs), do not require gasoline. What power is needed to drive BEVs on the highways? Will that requirement for control be greater (or less) for driving in cities?
A BEV may require less power to drive on highways in comparison to cities. A fully charged BEV will be able to go longer on a road when compared to a town. But the reality is quite the opposite.
The energy stored in a battery is measured in Kilowatt-hours (KWh). Suppose a specific BEV has an energy power capacity of around 200 KWh. This is ideally an output of about 200 thousand watts (equivalent to approximately 268 horsepower) for an hour and 100 KW for two hours, and so on. The BEV could deliver a staggering 2,680 horsepower for 6 minutes and a staggering 26800 hp in just 36 seconds.
However, in practice, in reality, the resistance inside the battery stops it from supplying an infinite amount of power, even for a brief period. If you attempt to draw a lot of energy from the storm, its internal resistance creates a drop in voltage enough to turn the battery off.
If the BEV is operating at high energy, a portion of its full capacity is used to drive. If the power is lower, it can supply greater energy.
Electric vehicles powered by batteries don’t require gasoline. (Andrew Roberts/Unsplash)
Tests on batteries
We conducted tests in the battery management system research lab located at the University of Windsor. We took a cylindrical cell similar to those made to make the BEV battery packs and analyzed its energy over various discharge currents.
Then, we completely charged the battery and afterward discharged the battery at an appropriate capacity until it was fully depleted. Then, we completely set it and released it at half power until the battery was fully depleted. The test was repeated five times, cutting the discharge power by half each time.
When we calculated the energy consumed by the battery in every test, we observed that the smaller the current, the greater the discharge energy capacity.
The BEVs require a greater amount of electricity (a measurement of energy) when driving on highways in comparison to city streets since the average speed of the road is greater. In addition, their batteries become less efficient in high voltages because of the loss of energy.
Additionally, BEVs do not lose any power when they stop as they transform their kinetic energy into electricity through the use of the regenerative braking system. All of these factors contribute to greater efficiency in driving and a longer performance at lower speeds.
The electric vehicles won’t lose as much power when they brake because they convert the energy of their kinetic force into electricity. (Shutterstock)
The batteries work well at room temperature, but cooler and warmer temperatures affect their performance. Similar to that, the use of vehicle heating or air conditioning systems will affect the battery’s performance.
The efficiency of a battery can be affected by how it is utilized over time. In addition, the control of the battery is crucial, and in some BEVs, it can be programmed to stop the driver from completely draining the battery to ensure that the battery’s long-term health is preserved.
Informed consumers
Canada’s 2022 fuel consumption guide provides details about some BEVs. On average, the BEVs tested BEVs needed less power to travel 100 km on city roads than highways, which is in line with our reasoning.
A study conducted by the American Automobile Association found that the majority of cars drove longest in urban conditions, where speeds were lower than the highway. This means that the BEV that is fully charged travels longer distances but at slower speeds.
Our research suggests that people who are considering purchasing an electric vehicle might appreciate it when power consumption guides include this information. Drivers of BEVs can expect a lower distance of driving at higher speeds. They also can anticipate the cost of driving per mile to rise with vehicle speed.
