As electric mobility becomes more important every day, scientific research brings us new solutions that increase performance, reduce financial and economic impacts and increase the market share of electric vehicles. Therefore, there is a necessity to compare technical and economic aspects of different technologies for each transport application. This article presents a comparison of three bus prototypes in terms of dynamic performance. The analysis is based on the collection of real data (acceleration, maximum speed and energy consumption) under different settings. Each developed prototype uses the same bus chassis but relies on different energy storage systems. Results show that the dynamic bus performance is independent on the three energy storage technologies, whereas technologies affect the management costs, charging time and available range. An extensive experimental analysis reveals that the bus equipped with a hybrid storage (lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors) had the most favorable net present value, in comparison with storage composed of only lead–acid or lithium-ion batteries. This result is due to the greater life of lithium-ion batteries and to the capability of supercapacitors, which reduce both batteries depth of discharge and discharge rate.

Public Transport (PT) planning requires a detailed evaluation of the fleet energy consumption, usually depending on the specific characteristics of the bus service network. These include topography, climate and operational features. In this work, we focus on the additional air conditioning (AC) energy consumption, proposing a method to evaluate the extra energy consumption based not only on climate variables, but also on the PT planned service. Results are presented for a large part of the provincial capitals and regions of Italy, and clearly show that overconsumption for air conditioning are significantly affected by the daily mileage distribution, with large variance even when climatic conditions are similar. The mileage data are extracted from GTFS databases, widely available for PT applications. The developed tool allows us to apply this methodology to any urban and extra-urban area. Reference AC consumption related to climate conditions are derived from a measurement campaign hold in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) during September 2018, within the National Research Program on the Electric System. A discussion on how to optimize the use of climatic data is also presented, resulting in the choice to use Heat Index as unique independent variable for air conditioning energy consumption calculation. A methodology to compute the Heat Index from climatic variables for large domains as, for instance, the Italian regions, was also developed.

This paper presents a comprehensive development of a dynamic wireless power transfer (WPT) system for the charge of the battery onboard an electric vehicle (EV). The development starts from the assessment of the electrical specifications of the dynamic WPT system, goes through the design of its power stages, and concludes with its validation. In the design step, the structure of the coupling set, layout of the coils, configuration of the conversion stages and topology of the compensation networks are illustrated, as well as electrical sizing of the power stage components. In the validation step, the setup of a dynamic WPT system is described, and the results of experimental tests carried out with the pickup moving along the track are given.

The existence of an efficient and sufficiently extensive charging infrastructure network appears to be of vital importance for the widespread acceptance of electric mobility by users. The present work aims to develop a tool based on big data analysis that helps to deploy a network of charging stations which can efficiently serve the potential demand, both from the user side, improving the level of service for charging and to cover the territory in a satisfactory way, and from the business side, allowing an analysis of the potential power load. The paper integrates real world traffic data and the results of an experimental campaign on an electric vehicle to evaluate the instantaneous power demand of a fast charging station, based on a procedure for the evaluation and proper time allocation of each charge request.

Electric vehicles (EVs) help reduce transportation emissions. A user-friendly charging infrastructure and efficient charging processes can promote their wider adoption. Low-power charging is effective for short-distance travel, especially when vehicles are parked for extended periods, like during daily commutes. These idle times present opportunities to improve coordination between EVs and service providers to meet charging needs. The present study examines strategies for coordinated charging in workplace parking lots to minimize the impact on the power grid while maximizing the satisfaction of charging demand. Our method utilizes a heuristic approach for EV charging, focusing on event logic that considers arrival and departure times and energy requirements. We compare various charging management methods in a workplace parking lot against a first-in-first-out (FIFO) strategy. Using real data on workplace parking lot usage, the study found that efficient electric vehicle charging in a parking lot can be achieved either through optimized scheduling with a single high-power charger, requiring user cooperation, or by installing multiple chargers with alternating sockets. Compared to FIFO charging, the implemented strategies allow for a reduction in the maximum charging power between 30 and 40%, a charging demand satisfaction rate of 99%, and a minimum SOC amount of 83%.