UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD

Vehicle Power Train and Dynamics

MAE7030-B

Alternative Powertrains

Your Name

Student Number and Programme of Study

Supervisor Name:

Spring 2020

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary...........................................................................................................1
Introduction........................................................................................................................1
Project Aim and Objectives...............................................................................................1
Literature Review..............................................................................................................2
Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Vehicles:................................................................2
Hybrid Electric Vehicles:...............................................................................................3
Electric Vehicles:...........................................................................................................5
Calculations, Results and Analysis:...................................................................................5
1. Cost:........................................................................................................................5
1.1 Capital Cost:........................................................................................................6
1.2 Operational Cost:................................................................................................6
1.3 Maintenance Cost:...............................................................................................6
1.4 Cost Analysis:.....................................................................................................7
2. Emissions:...............................................................................................................7
3. Overall Performance:..............................................................................................8
Discussion:.........................................................................................................................9
Conclusion:........................................................................................................................9
References........................................................................................................................10

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Page iii of xiv
Executive Summary
This research is dedicated to evaluate the life cycle cost, performance and emissions of an
electric vehicle as compared to a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.
After making detailed calculations of emissions, cost and performance for complete life
cycle of an electric and conventional vehicle, it is concluded that electric vehicle is
cheaper in terms of overall life cycle costs, though surpassing its ICE counterpart in initial
capital cost. The indirect contribution of electric vehicle towards environment pollution is
about 70% of that of ICE vehicle. The top speed of the two vehicles lies in comparable
ranges.

Introduction
The fundamental objective of this report is to make a comparative study of electric vehicle
and internal combustion engine vehicle in terms of life cycle cost, performance and
emissions. A detailed literature review is carried out to explore some of the existing and
developing technologies in the field. A qualitative comparison between conventional
internal combustion engine vehicles, plug in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles is made
in terms of cost (capital and operational), engine performance and equivalent carbon
emission. Positive and negative aspects of all the technologies are pondered over.
Literature review is followed by quantitative analysis of comparing electric vehicle with a
conventional ICE vehicle. This is accomplished by calculating the total costs and
equivalent carbon emissions of both the categories for the complete life cycle of the
project. On the basis of calculated parameters of both types of vehicles, it is concluded that
electric vehicles are most economical, environment friendly and comfortable in ride
provided one is willing to face charging time and mileage range constraints.

Project Aim and Objectives

The aim of the project is specified as:
“To carry out benchmark analysis of an internal
combustion engine vehicle and an electric vehicle”
In order to achieve this aim, the overall project is divided into the following objectives:

(i) To carry out the literature survey exploring the fundamental knowledge of
three major types of vehicle propulsion systems namely internal combustion
engine vehicles, plug in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles.

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 (ii) The finalization of complete life cycle duration of a typical ICE vehicle and an
electric vehicle. This step benchmarks the total miles run by a typical ICE
vehicle in its complete life and total charge and discharge cycles in case of
electric vehicle.
(iii) The calculation of complete cost (including capital, maintenance and running
costs) incurred during the complete life cycle of a typical ICE vehicle and an
electric vehicle.
(iv) The calculation of direct and indirect emissions for an ICE vehicle and an
electric vehicle.
(v) To draw a conclusion with regards to relative cost, performance and emissions
of ICE vehicle and electric vehicle.

Literature Review

Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Vehicles:

The conventional internal combustion engines have been the propulsion systems in
perhaps more than 99% of the vehicles manufactured till date. Moving a decade back, they
were the default choice for almost any type of locomotive and concept of vehicle without
internal combustion engine was practically non-existent. The first ever marketable ICE
was built by J.E.Lenoir in 1860s whose efficiency at best was about 5% (Heywood, 1988).
Over the years, there have been tremendous improvements in the design leading to
increase in fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions of an ICE engine, but
nevertheless, the fundamental concept and design has been the same and this engine has
ruled the universe for more than 160 years.

There have been many classifications of internal combustion engines. The early engines
used to be 2 stroke engines completing one cycle in two strokes. Most of the modern
engines are 4 stroke engines which take a total of 4 strokes or two rotations of engine
crankshaft to complete one cycle. 4 stroke engine surpasses its predecessor both in terms
of fuel efficiency, noise, sustainability and emissions.

On the basis of fuel, ICE vehicles are broadly classified into two types, those with spark
ignition engines use gasoline as fuel while those with compression ignition engines use
diesel as fuel. Between these categories, the vehicles employing diesel as fuel show a
marginally better fuel efficiency as compared to those with petrol engines (P. Breeze,

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2018). Consequently, vehicles with diesel engines have lower operating cost per kilometre
in comparison to those with gasoline engines. But, on the downside, the initial cost of
diesel engine vehicles is considerably greater than petrol vehicles and moreover, diesel
engines vehicles are only available in sizes greater than a certain minimum threshold. A
more formal calculation on the fuel cost of ICE vehicle follows in the next section of the
report.

With regards to fuel emissions, it was widely believed that diesel cars are more of
environment friendly as compared to petrol cars, but it has been recently researched that
the question has several dimensions of complexity and is difficult to be addressed in a
straight forward manner. The carbon dioxide emission of diesel engine is considerably less
as compared to gasoline engines, on the other hand, diesel cars emit more NO x and
particulate matter (PM) as compared to gasoline cars. (Panis, 2002).

Hybrid Electric Vehicles

With increasing concerns over the environmental aspects caused by ICE vehicles and to
reduce the dependency on fossil fuels, hybrid vehicles have emerged as a great solution.
These vehicles employ a ‘hybrid’ technology getting energy from ICE fuel when speed of
vehicle is greater than a pre-defined criteria. When speed is below the defined threshold,
engine is left to run in the idler condition and an electromotor driven by battery is used to
drive the car. Generally, the hybrid electric vehicles cannot be charged by an external
plug-in source.

Hybrid electric vehicles can be classified on the basis of several criteria. Depending upon
how the motor and engine drives are connected to each other, hybrid electric vehicles can
be classified into series, parallel or combined types. In series type hybrid electric vehicles,
an ICE derives an electric generator, which in turn simultaneously drives an electric motor
and charges a storage battery. When battery has been charged to a sufficient level, the
power transmission takes place from the battery via motor.

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 Fig 1: Function of a series hybrid system (Janicka, 2010)

On the other hand, parallel type hybrid vehicles consist of two separate derive systems,
one employing an ICE as the main source and other relying upon electric battery. Both
systems, can simultaneously give power to the transmission system of the car.

Fig 2: Function of a parallel hybrid system (Janicka, 2010)

The other criterion for the classification of hybrid vehicles is the contribution made by the
electric system towards the overall transmission of the car. The vehicles can be classified
as full hybrid, medium hybrid, micro hybrid and plug in hybrid. The full hybrid vehicles
are those which can be powered alone either by the ICE or the storage battery or a
combination of both. Medium hybrid and micro (or mild) hybrid systems mainly rely on
the conventional internal combustion engines to provide power with electric systems only
assisting the main ICE during the time of low speeds. On the other hand, a plug in hybrid
vehicle can be run in electric only mode with the facility to get its battery bank charged

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from external sources. Therefore, strictly speaking, a plug in hybrid vehicle has two types
of fuel, mainly fossil and electric.

Electric Vehicles
Thirdly, electric vehicles are powered solely by the storage batteries. No ICE is present in
the first place. The batteries need to be charged from external electrical source and
regenerative braking. The operating cost of electric vehicles is thus very lower as
compared to the previous categories (quantitative detail follows in the next section), but its
performance in terms of acceleration and sustainability are its serious shortcomings.

Calculations, Results and Analysis

A detailed comparison is made between a conventional ICE vehicle and an electric
vehicle. The parameters considered for the comparison are cost over the complete life
cycle of vehicle, emissions and performance. But in order to make the meaningful
comparison, it would be useful to benchmark some parameters. Since electric vehicles are
only available in small horse powers in local markets, we would be using Suzuki Mehran
VXR Euro II with an 800 cc engine, and electric vehicle candidate would be Zotye Z100
by Topsun Motors.

Fig 3: Suzuki Mehran (on left) and Topsun Zotye Z100 (on right) (EIA, 2019). 

1. Cost:
The total cost of the vehicle is sum of its capital, operating and maintenance cost. Each
component is discussed below separately.

Total Cost =C=Captial Cost +Operational Cost + Maintenance Cost (1)

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1.1 Capital Cost:
As per the data available on March, 01, 2020, the cost of Suzuki Mehran is $5700 while
Zotye 100 costs $9900.

Capital Cost
$12,000

$10,000

$8,000
Captial Cost

$6,000

$4,000

$2,000

$-
ICE Car Electric Car
Vehicle Name

Fig 4: Comparison of capital costs

1.2 Operational Cost:

The actual mileage of ICE car averaged over highway and city areas is around 17 km/lit of
petrol. Multiplying it by with price of petrol (assuming 0.8$/lit), the operational cost per
kilometre of travelled distance is:

$ 1 lit
Operational Cost =C 2=0.8 × =0.05 $ /km (2)
lit 17 km

While for electric vehicle, its electrical energy consumption is about 10 kWh per 100 km.
assuming the efficiency of charging equipment to be 0.8, and price of electricity to be 13
cents per kWh, operational cost for Zotye comes out to be:

kWh 0.13 $ 1
Operational Cost =C 2 '=0.1 × × =0.016 $ /km (3)
km Kwh 0.8

1.3 Maintenance Cost:

For ICE car, maintenance cost includes the cost the regular engine oil charge, tuning
(including change of filters) and other maintenance costs. Assuming oil change takes
place every 4000 km for ICE car, and one maintenance costs about 30$, maintenance cost
comes out to be:

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 1
Maintenance Cost =C 3=30 $ × =0.0075 $ /km (4)
4000 km

Ideally, there is no maintenance cost for electric vehicle. But after completing sufficient
number of charging and discharging cycles, lithium ion batteries used in the car would
need to be replaced with the new ones. Assuming battery loses its capacity after 5000
cycles, since storage capacity of battery is 20 kWh (which equals 200 km in terms of
mileage), therefore, storage capacity would be deteriorated after 1 million kilometres
(5000 x 200), which almost constitutes the complete life cycle of the car. Therefore,
maintenance cost of electric car, in terms of battery replacement, can be ignored.

1.4 Cost Analysis:

Plotting the total cost incurred to the car owner against the car mileage, the following
graph is obtained:

Fig 5: Comparison of total cost

The discussion follows in the next section about several aspects of the above figure.

2. Emissions:
According to EPA, (Environmental protection Agency, USA), greenhouse gas emissions
from an average passenger vehicle are about 250 grams per kilometre. Since actual data of
emissions from Suzuki Mehran is not available, but it can be assumed that greenhouse
emissions of a vehicle are proportional to size of its engine. This assumption might not be
so accurate but it can lead us to approximate results to reach an acceptable conclusion.

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Assuming average engine capacity of passenger vehicle is 3500 cc, equivalent carbon
emissions are:

250 g 800 cc
Emission=E= × =57 g/km (5)
km 3500 cc

Strictly speaking, there are no carbon emissions for an electric vehicle. But since, it is
being powered by electricity, a certain chunk of which is obtained by burning fossil fuels.
It indirectly adds carbon dioxide and other pollutants to air. According to the EIA (Energy
Information Administration), a total of 4.17 trillion kWh of energy was produced in 2018
in US emitting 1.87 billion tons of pollutants. On average, this equals 400 grams per kWh.
Therefore, an indirect estimate of electric vehicle emissions is:

400 g 10 kWh
Emission=E ' = × =40 g /km (5)
kWh 100 km

Fig 6: Comparison of equivalent emissions

3. Overall Performance:
The overall performance of the car can be gauged by several parameters. One of the
important concerns for electric vehicle is the acceleration and mileage per cycle along with
charging time. The total charging time for Zotye 1000 is 7-8 hours under the normal 220V
power supply, but under quick charging mode, it can be charged up to 80% in just one
hour. The comparison of several other parameters is shown below:

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 Table 1: Comparison of Miscellaneous Performance Parameters

Parameter ICE Car Electric Car

Top Speed (km/h) 100 90
Charging time (80% - hrs) -- 1
Range (per cycle - km) -- 150
Noise Level Normal Very Good
Ride Comfort High Good

Discussion:
As the graph in the final cost section indicates, initial capital cost of electric vehicle is
about 1.4 times than that of ICE vehicle. But its variable costs are extremely lower than its
counterpart making it cheap in the long run. According to approximate analysis, breakeven
takes place just after 100,000 km of running. Assuming total life of car to be 1 million
kilometres, total costs of electric vehicle are about 40% of that of an ICE car!

Next, surprising results are obtained when comparing emissions of two types. Ideally,
electric cars are believed to cause zero pollution. But their indirect contribution towards
pollution is just below ICE car. As shown by graph in fig 5, emission of electric car is
about 70% of ICE car. But, it is pertinent to note here that it is assumed that all the
electricity is being imported from government. If car owner uses his own solar or other
renewable source for charging, this contribution can be lower.

As far as other parameters are concerned, top speed of electric cars is just below that of
ICE car. Although they don’t go up to cursing speed of 120 km/h, yet they are at sufficient
levels of 90 km/h. They are followed by mileage constraints and charging time. Electric
car considered here takes about 1 hour to charge up to 80% (in quick charging mode) and
can only be driven up to 150 km in one fully charged battery bank. ICE cars, are
doubtlessly free from such constraints.

Conclusion:
Electric car have greater capital cost than ICE counterpart, yet their total cost over
complete life cycle of car are less than half of ICE cars. Equivalent carbon emissions of
electric car (indirectly) amount to about 70% of those of ICE cars nullifying their

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advantage of being environment friendly. Top speed of electric car is just below those of
ICE car while overall comfort level in terms of vibration and noise in electric car is higher
due to absence of a drumming engine. The electric car, however, face the constraint of
charging time and range of distance which can be covered with a fully charged battery
bank.

References
Dr. Anna Janicka. (2010). Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Available:
http://www.ae.pwr.wroc.pl/filez/20110606092353_HEV.pdf. Last accessed 01-03-2020.
EIA. (2019). How much carbon dioxide is produced per kilowatthour of U.S. electricity
generation?. Available: https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=74&t=11. Last
accessed 29th Feb 2020.
EPA. (2018). Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle. Available:
https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle.
Last accessed 29th Feb 2020.
J. B. Heywood, 1988. Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals, Chapter 01, pp. 2-10.
L. Int Panis, A. Rabl, L. De Nocker, R. Torfs, 20002. Diesel Or Petrol? An
Environmental Comparison Hampered By Uncertainty
P. Breeze, 2017. Combined Heat and Power, Chapter 5, pp. 130.

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