The impact of temperature on plug-in hybrid electric vehicle battery performance

The battery performance of a modified Toyota Prius with a 5 kilowatt-hour (kWh) plug-in battery was documented for a one year to determine how various temperature conditions affected vehicle performance. Both fuel economy and pure electrical efficiency were compared to ambient temperature. The fuel economy has a positive relationship with ambient temperature until approximately 283 K where the efficiency begins to level off. Electrical performance has a positive linear relationship with ambient temperature. With the emergence of electric vehicles (EVs) and PHEVs from a variety of automotive manufacturers, information on EV and PHEV performance for consumers will become more important.