Course Name: Introduction to Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Week No.:2 Lecture No.:1

Topic Name : Vehicle Dynamics 1
Objectives:
● To understand the different forces that act on a moving vehicle
● To evaluate the forces, power and the torque required to overcome the forces
1. Introduction

In considering a new source of energy for vehicles, it’s important to understand how much energy is required
to move a vehicle. Therefore, in this chapter, we will derive a simplified model of the dynamics that govern
vehicle motion.1 Given that the vast majority of energy used for transportation (84 percent in the United
States) is by vehicles on wheels (cars, trucks, and trains, as opposed to boats and planes), we will focus on
this particular kind of vehicle.
2. Forces Acting on a Rolling Vehicle

Fig. 1 Force diagram for a rolling vehicle.

Fig. 1 shows the major forces at work on a rolling vehicle. Fad is aerodynamic drag, Frr is rolling resistance,
Fhc is hill climbing (a proportion of the gravitational force mg as defined by the angle ψ), Fla is linear
acceleration, Fωa is angular acceleration, and Fte, the sum of all of them, is the total tractive effort required to
move the vehicle.

There are a variety of other forces acting on the car, such as lift (the tendency for a fast car to want to take
off like an airplane) and wind resistance (above and beyond aerodynamic drag through still air). But the forces
illustrated in Fig. 1 are sufficient to form a satisfactory model of the vehicle’s behavior for our purposes.
Based on Fig. 1, the total force (in newtons) required to move a vehicle on wheels is defined by Eq. (1):
𝐹𝑡𝑒 = 𝐹𝑎𝑑 + 𝐹𝑟𝑟 + 𝐹ℎ𝑐 + 𝐹𝑙𝑎 + 𝐹𝑤𝑎 (1)

As shown, the force required to move the car forward, Fte, is equal to the sum of all of the forces opposing that
forward motion. Each of the terms in Eq. (1) will be analyzed in detail in forthcoming sections.
 a) Aerodynamic Drag (Fad)

One of the primary forces acting on a vehicle is aerodynamic drag, which is the oppositional force
imparted on the vehicle by the air that it collides with as it moves forward. The drag force can be calculated
using Eq. (2):
1
𝐹𝑎𝑑 = 𝜌𝐴𝑓 𝐶𝐷 𝑣 2 (2)
2

where ρ is the density of air (in kg/m3), A is the frontal area of the vehicle that is pushing against the air (in m2),
Cd is the drag coefficient, and v is the velocity of the vehicle (in m/s).
ρ is a measure of how much mass the vehicle has to push out of the way to travel through it. For example,
it’s easier to walk through air than it is to walk through water, because air is less dense than water.
A is a measure of the area that the vehicle is presenting to the air. If you put the vehicle in front of a
backdrop, and looked at it from the front, A is equivalent to the two-dimensional area of the backdrop that would
be blocked by the vehicle. The bigger the area, the more air needs to be pushed out of the way to get through.

Aside from how big an object is, Cd is a measure of how “draggy” it is. If you turn the umbrella around and
try to pull it through the air with the bottom facing forward, so that it catches the air like a bowl, it will be even
more difficult than pushing the top through the air, even though their areas are exactly the same.

Technically, Cd is a function of the circumstances that a vehicle finds itself in, including its velocity. But for

simple analyses like the one we’re doing here, Cd is usually treated as a constant for a given vehicle.

Given that Cd and A are both constants relating to a particular vehicle, they are often combined to create a
compound constant, CdA. The following table shows typical values of CD and A for different vehicles.

Vehicle CD A (sq. m)
2- Wheeler 0.9 0.5 – 0.9
3 –Wheeler rickshaw 0.44 1.6 – 2

Open convertible 0.5 – 0.7 1.7 - 2

Limousine 0.22 – 0.4 1.7 – 2.5

Coach 0.4 – 0.8 6 – 10
Truck without trailer 0.45 – 0.8 6 – 10

Truck with trailer 0.55 – 1 6 – 10

Articulated Vehicle 0.5 – 0.9 6 – 10

Imagine that the front of the car, as shown in Fig. 2, was able to push all of the air in front of it out of the
way at velocity v. The amount of the air being pushed out of the way each second is equal to the density of the
air, ρ (in kg/m3), times the frontal area A (in m2), times the velocity (in m/s), for final units of kg/s, mass over
time. If we multiply by the velocity (m/s) a second time, we get exactly what we’re looking for: mass times
velocity (i.e., momentum) over time, which gives us the force required to push the air out of the way.

Fig. 2 Vehicle Dynamics with respect to various Aerodynamic forces

(Image courtesy: https://cfdflowengineering.com/cfd-modelling-of-vehicle-aerodynamics/)

The reason we multiply ρAv2 by a Cd < 1 is that the front of the car isn’t actually pushing 100 percent of the
air out of the way: a good proportion of it is actually slipping by, so the total force is less than the full ρAv2. The
reason we multiply it all by 1/2 is simply an artifact of the way that Cd is defined elsewhere in the field of fluid
dynamics. In an alternate universe, we could’ve defined all values of Cd as half of their current value and took
the 1/2 out of this equation, but for reasons unrelated to this equation, it’s more elegant to define Cd as the larger
value and add the 1/2 to this equation.
Aerodynamic drag generally is composed of turbulent air flow around vehicle body (85%), friction of air
over vehicle body (12%) and vehicle component resistance, from radiators and air vents (3%)

b) Rolling Resistance (Frr)

In addition to overcoming air resistance, the vehicle needs to overcome rolling resistance, which is a loss
generated by the wheels in contact with the road surface. While there are many things that can contribute to
rolling resistance, the primary component of it is hysteresis: as the wheel rolls along the road, the wheel (and to
a lesser extent, the road surface) is constantly being deformed, which causes a loss of energy in the form of heat.
Frr is composed of Resistance from tire deformation (~90%), Tire penetration and surface compression (~ 4%)
and Tire slippage and air circulation around wheel (~ 6%).
Rolling resistance is calculated by Eq. (3):
Frr = μrrmg (3)

where µrr is the coefficient of rolling resistance, m is the mass of the vehicle (in kg), and g is gravity (9.81 m/s2).
Alternatively, mg can be thought of as the weight of the vehicle (in newtons).
The direct proportionality of rolling resistance to weight makes sense: the harder the vehicle is pressing
down on its wheels, the more those wheels are likely to deform, resulting in greater rolling resistance. (As an
interesting aside, this is also why it’s important to keep your car tires inflated to the recommended pressure:
when the pressure is low, the tires deform more, resulting in higher rolling resistance, and as a result, higher
energy consumption.)
The direct proportionality of rolling resistance to weight also gives us a helpful way of thinking about what it
actually means. If the µrr of our tires is 0.01 (a common value), that means that the force (in pounds) required to
move a load on those tires is 0.01 times (i.e., 1 percent) of the weight of that load in pounds. Therefore, it takes
only 1 lb of force to move a load of 100 lb on wheels with a µrr of 0.01.

Fig. 3 Pressure distribution in the contact area

Fig. 4 Force acting on a tyre vs deformation in loading and unloading on a hard surface

where Tr = Pa = mga (4)

here, Tr is rolling resistance in N-m, P is normal load acting on center of rolling wheel in N
m is mass of vehicle in kg, g is acceleration constant in m/s2, a is deformation of tyre in m.

The moment produced by forward shift of the resultant ground reaction force is called rolling resistance moment
& can expressed as
𝐹𝑟 = 𝑃𝜇𝑟𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛼 = 𝑚𝑔𝜇𝑟𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛼 (5)
where, a is the load angle.
 c) Rolling resistance coefficient, (µrr)

The rolling resistance coefficient (µrr) is a function of Tire material, Tire structure, Tire temperature,
Tire inflation pressure, Tread geometry, Road roughness, Road material, presence of absence of liquids on
the road.

The following table shows some common values of µrr for various conditions.

Rolling
resistance
Conditions
coefficient
(µrr)
Car tire on smooth tarmac road 0.01
Car tire on concrete road 0.011
Car tire on a rolled gravel road 0.02
Tar macadam road 0.025
Unpaved road 0.05
Bad earth tracks 0.16
Loose sand 0.15-0.3
Truck tire on concrete or asphalt
0.006-0.01
road
Wheel on iron rail 0.001-0.002

The values given in table do not take into account the variation of frr with speed.

Based on experimental results, many empirical formulas have been proposed for calculating the rolling
resistance on a hard surface. In vehicle performance calculation, it is sufficient to consider the rolling
resistance coefficient as a linear function of speed. For most common range of inflation pressure, the
following equation can be used for a passenger car on a concrete road

𝒗
𝝁𝒓𝒓 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏 (𝟏 + 𝟏𝟔𝟎) (6)

Where v is the vehicle speed in km/h

d) Hill Climbing (Fhc)

Aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance are the two major forces opposing a vehicle traveling at a
constant velocity on a flat surface, but if you’re traveling up a hill, you’ll also need to account for gravity.
The force required to travel up a hill is calculated by Eq. (5):

Fhc=mg sin(ψ) (5)

 where m is the mass of the vehicle (in kg), g is gravity (8.91 m/s2), and ψ is the vertical angle of the road
relative to flat (in radians).
Fig. 4 illustrates why sine is the appropriate function to use here. The two angles ψ are congruent because
they have the same relationship to horizontal and vertical. The force pulling back on the car is mg sin ψ
because we’re interested in the opposite side of the vertical triangle relative to the hypotenuse of the vertical
triangle, and sine gives us the ratio of opposite to hypotenuse. Where m is mass of vehicle in kg, g is gravity
in m/s2, ψ is the vertical angle of the road relative to flat in radians.

Fig. 5 Hill climbing force is equal to mg sin ψ

In most cases, the hill climbing force equation can be simplified by using the small angle approximation,
which states that for small angles (in radians):
sinψ = ψ (6)
So, in general, we’re free to simplify to:
Fhc = mg ψ (7)

As long as ψ is in radians. In any case, it’s important to note that if the vehicle is going downhill, ψ, and
therefore Fhc, will be negative, as gravity pulls the vehicle forward down the slope and reduces the force that
the motor needs to provide in order to keep the vehicle moving forward (or increases the force required to
slow it down when braking).

e) Linear Acceleration (Fla)

If the vehicle is traveling at constant velocity, the three forces described above are sufficient to form a
basic model of the vehicle’s behavior. But much of the time (and nearly all of the fun times!) a vehicle is also
accelerating. The linear acceleration of a vehicle (along the road) is defined by the basic force law:
Fla=ma (8)

The faster you accelerate, and the more massive the vehicle, the more force will be required. Note that if the
vehicle is slowing down, a, and therefore Fla, will be negative.
 f) Angular Acceleration (Fωa)
While it’s clear that a force is required to accelerate a vehicle down the road, there’s another kind of
acceleration going on that’s a bit less obvious. Every time the vehicle accelerates, there are a variety of
rotational parts inside the vehicle that need to be spun up, which also requires a force (or more accurately, a
torque). Given that the force required for angular acceleration within the vehicle is usually much smaller than
the force required for linear acceleration of the vehicle itself, and the calculations involved are significantly
more difficult, requiring numbers that are much less readily available, we will follow the suggestion of
Larminie & Lowry (2012) and use a fudge factor that assumes Fωa is around 5

percent of Fla.

Therefore, we will say that:

Fla + Fωa = 1.05Fla (9)

If the vehicle is slowing down, Fla + Fωa will be negative, as a negative force is required to reduce both
the linear momentum of the vehicle and the angular momentum of its rotating parts.

g) Tractive Force (Fte)

As we saw at the beginning of the chapter, the total tractive effort required to move the vehicle is simply the
sum of all of the forces we have discussed:
Fte = Fad + Frr + Fhc + Fla+ Fωa (10)

Elaborating each term as we have defined them, we get:

1
𝐹𝑡𝑒 = 2
𝜌𝐴𝐶𝐷 𝑣 2 + 𝜇𝑟𝑟 𝑚𝑔 + 𝑚𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜓 + 1.05𝑚𝑎 (11)

Putting in our assumptions and approximations for a vehicle driving at sea level on gentle slopes, we get:
𝐹𝑡𝑒 = 0.6125𝐴𝐶𝐷 𝑣 2 + 9.81𝜇𝑟𝑟 𝑚 + 9.81𝑚𝜓 + 1.05𝑚𝑎 (12)

To clean things up a bit, let’s divide the last three terms by 9.81m so we only have to multiply by m once.
This leaves us with the following elegant equation for the total force required to move a rolling vehicle on gentle
slopes at sea level:

𝑃𝑡𝑒 = 0.6125𝐴𝐶𝐷 𝑣 3 + 9.81𝑚𝑣(𝜇𝑟𝑟 + 𝜓 + 0.107𝑎) (13)

In order to calculate the force required to move a rolling vehicle, all we need to know is: its frontal area
(A), its drag coefficient (Cd), its velocity (v), its mass (m), the coefficient of rolling resistance for its wheels
(µrr), the angle of the road (ψ), and the vehicle’s current rate of acceleration (a), if any.

3. Summary

In this lecture, the basics of the dynamics of a wheeled vehicle in order to estimate the power required for the
vehicle to follow a specific driving schedule (with variable v and a) over a specific course (with variable ψ) has
been studied.
References

1. Larminie, James and John Lowry. Electric Vehicle Technology Explained. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2012.

2. Ehsani, M., Gao, Y., Longo, S. and Ebrahimi, K., “Modern electric, hybrid electric, and fuel cell vehicles,”
CRC press, 2018.

3. Iqbal Husain, “Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Design Fundamentals”, Third Edition, CRC Press, 2021