Energy balance comparison of small unmanned vehicle equipped with electric and hybrid propulsion system

Abstract

Article presents comparison of the energetic balance of vehicle powertrain – pure electric vehicle and vehicle equipped with electric hybrid power transmission. Society is more and more often persuaded to buy electric cars as an environmentally friendly solution because they have opinion of ecological vehicles. Electrification in military applications is also widely considered, especially in case of small to medium UGV’s such as wide range of robotic systems introduced to the milatary operations. The article presents the problems of comparing the efficiency and others parameters such as the range of a two presented powertrains. The research was carried out on an small unmanned land platform equipped with a hybrid propulsion system supplied as standard with Diesel power generator and electrically only powered. Energy used for charging of the battery, from tank-to-wheel, was calculated. This also enables to calculate total efficiency of electric and hybrid power transmission. By calculating different capacity of battery and power of generator, it is possible to determine the vehicle range.