Did you know adding an additional 100 pounds of physical weight on the EV, increases energy consumption by 1-2%? In this article, we bring out all the factors that contribute to range loss in your scooter that you usually neglect to check.
Physical weight
Apart from the weight of the user and the EV with its essential components (battery, chassis, motor etc.), there are other weights like leftover papers, things in the boot, bigger wheel alloys, side-skirts, additional wheels with seats, supporting wheels etc.
These types of weights add to the overall weight of the EV and the rolling resistance experienced in the tires.
This increases energy consumption which consequently decreases the effective range of the electric vehicle that would’ve been possible without these weights. One must avoid all the dead-weight and things that do not have daily use to maximize the range of an EV. Hence, periodic clean-up of the scooter is necessary.
When the tires have lower pressure, the elasticity of the tire goes down and the friction between the road and tires increases.
Hence, driving the EV supplies extra energy to keep the EV at a particular speed than normally so.
This happens until the tire pressure is too low where-in the motor is not able to supply enough power to keep the EV at a chosen speed. This is why EV users often overlook tire pressure as it is not physically felt by them when tire pressure starts reducing. Therefore, regular checking of tire pressure before it becomes too low for EVs is a must to ensure maximum range.
Tire pressure also changes with the ambient temperature where a 10 degrees Fahrenheit change in temperature produces a decrease in the tire pressure by 1 PSI. Hence, the ambient temperature must also be monitored for the sake of the tire pressure.
Charging losses
When an EV is charged, it is usually assumed by the user that the energy content present in the battery after charging is equivalent to the amount of energy supplied to it via the charging current. However, this is not the case in reality due to charging losses
For battery temperature maintenance, batteries need to be kept at a particular temperature for proper charging. This is attributed to the Li-ions in the battery moving the fastest at this temperature. In order to maintain itself at this temperature, the battery spends some of the charging energy thus, contributing to charging losses.
Charging current: EV batteries can only be charged via direct current (DC) due to their chemistries being designed for it. When EVs are charged via alternating current (AC) like in-home charging equipment, the input must be provided with an AC-DC converter that converts the AC to DC. This conversion process is electrically demanding, contributing to charging losses.
On the other hand, DC fast chargers present at charging stations directly provide DC to the EV. Thus, they have no charging current losses and have an efficiency of 99 % compared to the 85 % efficiency of home chargers.
Transmission losses consist of electrical losses in the charging current wires, battery storage efficiency losses, both of which are directly related to the state of health (SOH) of the battery.
In order to consciously prevent charging losses, it is recommended to charge the battery at slightly high ambient temperatures to reduce the load on the battery. Usage of public DC chargers or equipment which are already fitted with AC-DC converters like the Ather-Grid home chargers also helps. Periodically monitoring the SOH of the battery is imperative as well.
At Nesh, we analyze various vehicle data that are transmitted over the air (OTA) via telematics devices fitted inside our original equipment manufacturers (OEM) vehicle. We can display the range that is possible with the current rate they are consuming energy from their battery. Furthermore, we can pinpoint the exact reason as to why a particular user has an increased energy consumption in their EV contributing to a decreased range. Are their batteries healthy? Are they driving with low tire pressures? Where and in Which conditions are they charging their electric scooter? We will have answers to these questions.
