Analysis of Energy Consumption in an Electric Vehicle through Virtual Reality Set-Up

The aim of this work is to present an algorithm used to perform an energetic analysis for an electric vehicle in a Virtual Reality (VR) scenario. This was useful to recognize some patterns of driving behavior considering users and their psychological aspects. The primary aspect enlightened is the description of the experimental setup used to perform tests with 26 users. Through Unity and Matlab software, it was possible to exploit a VR scenario aimed at recreating in the same route both urban and highway paths in condition of real traffic, performed with a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV). The acquisition part is illustrated in its methodology in two different cases covering disturbance and non-disturbance scenario. Moreover, the population was divided considering gender to establish a characterization which linked energy consumption and associated analysis to psychological traits of the driver.