The influence of inclement weather on electric bus efficiency: Evidence from a developed European network

The daily operational capacity of an electric bus service is affected by many real-world factors, such as variations in weather, route characteristics, and traffic. Before bus operators electrify their fleets, they need to understand the effect inclement weather has on service stability, efficiency, and feasibility. Previous research on this topic is limited, developing models which are difficult to interpret, or physics-based theoretical models, which do not use real-world data and scenarios. To fill this research gap, this research applies a series of ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions to data from an established European electric bus operator to estimate the impact variation in weather conditions has on energy consumption, energy regeneration rates, charge cycles, speed of service, and vehicle emissions. The results show that higher wind speeds and lower temperatures positively correlate with energy consumption and negatively correlate with the total energy regeneration rate. This effect is especially pronounced at freezing temperatures.