Revitalization, performance measurement, and improvement of electric vehicles

Electric vehicles from industrial production exist since more than 80 years. State-of-the-art cars go back 20 years at maximum. Research on electric vehicles is done by car manufacturers, small and large companies, and universities. For university institutes with restricted means, independent research on electric vehicles is done on older and warn out versions of industrially converted vehicles. To get a basis for comparison and a research platform the old vehicle needs to be revitalized especially concerning the batteries. A measurement system for electrical and mechanical, thermal and/or environmental values is implemented to obtain precise results of practical operation. Improvements on battery system, power converter, cable connections, and even drive motor are systematically planned, executed and evaluated. The whole process is described in this paper.