Aerodynamic Drag and Rolling Resistance of Three-Wheelers

Abstract

Three-wheelers are popular in Sri Lankan roads as a convenient mode of transportation. Presently there are about 500,000 registered three-wheelers. The range of commercially available electric vehicles are limited due to their battery weight and hence used mostly as neighbourhood vehicles. Three-wheelers are used mostly as neighbourhood vehicles and hence ideal for electrification. But no successful commercial electrically powered three-wheeler is available yet. Aerodynamic drag coefficient and rolling resistance coefficient are two basic parameters needed to determine the motor capacity of an electric vehicle. Accurate values of aerodynamic drag coefficient and rolling resistant coefficient are important to calculate accurate power estimate in electric vehicle design. In this paper we present an accurate method to determine the aerodynamic drag coefficient and rolling resistance coefficient of commonly available three-wheelers in Sri Lanka.