Assessing the Dynamic Performance and Energy Efficiency of Pure Electric Car with Optimal Gear Shifting

Traditional pure electric cars generally adopt single-speed transmission for cost consideration. However, with the renewal and iteration of technology, small electric cars are all developed in the direction of power performance and environmental protection. Gear shifting makes it possible for the motor to work in a more efficient range, which possibly improves the performance of the entire powertrain. In this paper, a small electric car is designed, its power parameters are matched, and the energy-saving space and effect brought by adding multiple-gear shifting transmissions are discussed. To begin, the power-matching design was carried out, and then the transmission ratio was determined by particle swarm optimization. Finally, the power performance and fuel economy of this designed car equipped with different types of transmissions were analyzed and compared through simulation experiments. The results show that the electric car equipped with two-speed transmission has improvements in most important indicators, among which the acceleration time of 0 to 100 km/h is decreased by 17.7%, and the power consumption is reduced by 1.8%. To sum up, the feasibility of applying multiple-gear shifting to small electric cars is verified, and the experimental results provide a valuable reference for the development of electric cars.