Chapter 8b: DC motor selection for an

electric vehicle

0908531: Mechatronics System Design

Chapter 8b DC Motor Selection of an Electric Vehicle

Dr. Lutfi R. Al-Sharif (Revision 2.0, 17/5/2008)
1. Introduction
This example shows the methodology for selecting a permanent magnet dc motor for
an electric vehicle. It is based on the final year graduation project for Engineer
Rasha Khaleel [1]. More details about electric vehicles can be found in [2].
2. Problem
Select a suitable DC permanent magnet motor from the datasheet at the end of this
Chapter that satisfies the performance requirements stated in section 3 below.
3. Performance Requirements
The total mass of the vehicle (including live load and dead load) is 1300 kg. The
electric vehicle must meet the following requirements:
Case I: On a level track.
Acceleration: it should be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 6 s.
Top speed: It should be able to achieve a top speed of 100 mph.
Case II: Climbing at 30
Acceleration: It should be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 10 s.
Top speed: It should be able to achieve a top speed of 75 mph.
Assume the following:

Assume an overall system efficiency of 88%.

Assume that the vehicle is fitted with tyres that have a diameter of 17 inches
(432 mm).
Assume that 1 mile = 1.6 km.
Take the acceleration due to gravity (g) as 9.81 ms-2.

4. Basic equations
There are four forces that need to be overcome when driving the vehicle:
4.1 Acceleration force
In order to accelerate the masses, a force needs to be applied. The data given only
includes translational masses. So in order to account for the rotational inertias, it
shall be assumed that they represent a fixed percentage of the total translational
masses (5% in this case).
where:
Fa is in N
m is the mass in kg
a is in ms-2
4.2 Climbing force
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Chapter 8b: DC motor selection for an

electric vehicle

0908531: Mechatronics System Design

When climbing an incline, an extra force is needed to overcome the component of

gravity that is parallel to the incline:

Where:
Fc is in N
m is the mass in kg
g is the acceleration due to gravity in ms-2
is the angle of inline to the horizontal
4.3 Aerodynamic drag force
The vehicle will face air resistance. This depends on the density of the air, the
effective area and the square of the speed.

Where:
Fcd is the aerodynamic drag force in N
Cw is the relative wind factor at wind speed of 75 mph (dimensionless) taken here as
0.062
Cd is the drag coefficient (dimensionless) taken here at 0.3
A is the effective area in m2, taken here as 2 m2
is the density of air in kgm-3 taken here at 1.2 kg m-3
is the angle of inline to the horizontal which is 30 degrees in this problem
v is the speed in ms-1
4.4 Rolling resistance force
Although the tyres have full traction on the surface and thus do not incur any friction,
there is still friction incurred within the vehicle inside the bearings when moving. This
is referred to as rolling resistance. It calculated as follows:

Where:
Fr is the rolling resistance in N
m is the mass in kg
g is the acceleration due to gravity in ms-2
is the angle of inline to the horizontal
Cr is the coefficient of rolling resistance (dimensionless) and is speed dependent
v is the speed in ms-1
5. Motor specification
The vehicle will use four motors, each mounted directly onto one of the wheels. This
improves the efficiency of the system by reducing transmission. Then you have to
select a motor from the following three motors:
Source URL: http://www.ju.edu.jo/sites/Academic/l.sharif/Material/Forms/AllItems.aspx
Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/courses/me302

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Chapter 8b: DC motor selection for an

electric vehicle

0908531: Mechatronics System Design

All three motor have a top rotational speed of 2000 rpm

They have rated torques of:
750 Nm
500 Nm
350 Nm
More details about the motors are shown in the datasheet at the end of this Chapter.
REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] Electric Vehicle Technology Explained And Design, 20/5/2007, a Dissertation
in Electrical Engineering, Submitted by Rasha Khaleel Noful, Mechatronics
Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering & Technology, University of
Jordan.
[2] Electric Vehicle Technology Explained, James Larminie, Oxford Brookes
University, Oxford, UK, John Lowry, Acenti Designs Ltd., UK, 2003 John Wiley
& Sons Ltd.

Source URL: http://www.ju.edu.jo/sites/Academic/l.sharif/Material/Forms/AllItems.aspx

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Chapter 8b: DC motor selection for an

electric vehicle

0908531: Mechatronics System Design

Datasheet for DC Motors

Source URL: http://www.ju.edu.jo/sites/Academic/l.sharif/Material/Forms/AllItems.aspx

Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/courses/me302

Attributed to: [Dr. Lutfi R. Al-Sharif]

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