Critical evaluation of the battery electric vehicle for sustainable mobility

Abstract

Can Battery Electric Vehicles replace conventional internal combustion engine vehicles for commuting purposes when exposed to a busy corporate activity within the city of Edinburgh?This thesis investigates the application of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) use in a commercial business environment in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland UK. The motivation behind this work is to determine if the Battery Electric Vehicle can replace conventional fossil fuel vehicles under real world drive cycles and the desire by many to combat the causes of climate change.Due to the nature of this work a significant part of the work will be underpinned by the quantitative methodology approach to the research. As the question indicates the research is supported by real live data coming from the vehicle both in proprietary data logging as well as reading and analysing the data coming from the vehicles own Electronic Control Unit (ECU).There will be mixed research methodology encompassing quantitative and qualitative research to obtain a complete response in respect to the management of the vehicle these methodologies will be the analysis of the measurable data as well as explorative, to gain the underlying reasons and motivations for choosing a battery electric vehicle as an option to the conventional vehicle for this type of application use