Light-Commercial Electric Vehicle Design: Total Cost of Ownership Assessment

Governments in all continents are regulating and limiting the emissions generated by the transportation system. In this scenario, diesel engines will be out of all major markets between 2030 and 2040. In Brazil, the most prominent automotive market in South America, the introduction of the PL-8 regulations imposes the auto manufacturers to introduce new propulsion technologies starting in 2025. This paper studies the architecture selection and component sizing of an electric propulsion system for a light-commercial vehicle transformation from an internal diesel combustion (IC) engine to a full battery electric vehicle (BEV). The paper investigates four different driveline architectures and compares the results with the original IC vehicle regarding longitudinal performances (e.g., acceleration, maximum speed, and gradeability), energy consumption efficiency, CO2 emissions, and the total cost of ownership. In the end, the electric vehicle is evaluated as an investment by calculating its internal rate of return (IRR), payback (PB), and return on investment (ROI). The longitudinal performances and energy consumption efficiency are estimated using a one-dimensional (1D) model developed using Matlab/Simulink. The total cost of ownership and the projected vehicle retail price are determined based on the system sizing defined in this study and cost models from the literature review.