The Application of NIMH Batteries in a Light-Duty Electric Vehicle

This article presents the results of experimental tests and simulations of a light-duty electric vehicle, in which the original lead-acid battery pack was replaced with a lightweight pack of nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries, which enabled a significant increase to the vehicle’s load capacity. The research was mainly focused on the aspect of electricity consumption and prediction of the range of the vehicle equipped with a new battery pack. The operation of a vehicle with total weights of 500 kg and 740 kg was analysed. Recorded vehicle speed waveforms were used to simulate vehicle motion in the Matlab/Advisor environment. The experiments showed a reduction in the specific energy consumption of a vehicle of lower weight, while simulation tests showed good compliance of the results of electricity consumption with experiments in relation to both the considered total vehicle weights.