Analytic modeling of vehicle fuel consumption

An analytical method of evaluating vehicle fuel consumption under standard operating conditions is presented. In the proposed model, vehicle fuel consumption is separated into two different operating modes: cruising at constant speed and acceleration. In each of these modes fuel consumption is calculated based on the instantaneous engine efficiency, approximated using an analytical function rather than typically considered consumption map. The approximation is based on speed-power decoupling, employing two single dimension polynomials instead of a two-dimensional lookup table. The adequacy and accuracy of the model is verified using experimental calculations. Moreover, it is shown that the effect of various design parameters on vehicle fuel consumption can be studied utilizing the proposed model.