Environmental conditions
for accurate range estimation
Electric vehicles require reliable trip planning to provide drivers a trouble-free user experience.
Environmental conditions such as wind, temperature, solar radiation, and snow/water on the road can heavily affect the energy consumption of road vehicles.
Ventus provides high-precision data and helps car makers and fleet operators to integrate these into existing range and consumption estimation systems.
Wind
Wind alters aerodynamic drag, which is the main source of energy consumption at highway speeds.
Solar radiation
Radiated energy received by the vehicle determines the energy demands of air conditioning. Sun position may also create visibility issues.
Snow
Snow cover on the road increases energy consumption by a large amount.
Temperature
Outside air temperature impacts the energy demands of battery conditioning, AC and other thermal systems.
Rain
Precipitation in form of rain alters friction characteristics of the road surface. Residual water cover greatly increases energy consumption.
increased wind resistance
Electric drivetrains are extremely efficient. However, physics dictates that travel at highway speeds requires a large amount of energy to counteract air resistance. This resistance is greatly influenced by wind, which may increase or reduce power demand by 25%.
Reliable weather hazard warning for autonomous vehicles
Weather has a crucial impact on the safety of the world’s roads. Collisions on slippery roads happen on a daily basis and strong winds can cause trucks and vans to tip over, leading to disastrous accidents.
The importance of accurate prediction of weather and environmental conditions is sharply rising with the emergence of autonomous vehicles.
Providing drivers and vehicles with advance warning before potentially hazardous weather conditions is the key to avoid such accidents. Conventional weather models are unable to resolve reality with sufficiently high accuracy. Ventus' technology was created to deliver highly accurate weather hazard warnings.
