Abstract
During the period from 1990 to 1995, the automobile manufacturers of Europe, America, and Japan have been responsive to the need to re-evaluate the battery electric vehicle (EV) as a zero emission vehicle, and have released key design specifications and vehicle performance characteristics for more than thirty electric vehicles displayed at the: 55th IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt, NAIAS'95 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and the 30th International Motor Show in Tokyo. This paper includes a comparative parametric correlation analysis of these key design parameters which include: vehicle test mass, tire coefficients, overall aerodynamic drag and skin friction drag coefficients, equivalent flat plate frontal area, length to hydraulic diameter ratio, peak tractive force, peak traction motor power, and battery energy storage capacity. Conclusions show automobile manufacturers achieved dramatic improvements in many key parameters, and as a result the battery electric vehicle now promises to have a brighter future.