The Comparison of Electric Motor Performance in Powering Electric Motorcycle

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: Agus.Ulinuha@ums.ac.id

Abstract

The increase use of vehicles with combustion engine has caused intensive exploration of fossil fuels and severe pollutions. The replacement of this engine with electric motor is expected to solve both problems. For optimal selection of the motor, assessment of its performance is necessary. This may be carried out by comparing the performance of the motors used for powering electric motorcycle. This paper presents the performance comparison of 2 motors powering a modified motorcycle. The engine of the motorcycle was successively replaced with BLDC motor and DC motor and their performances were measured. The motorcycle was loaded with 1 and 2 passengers with the total weight of 59 and 109 Kg, respectively. The motorcycle speed (km/h) was adjusted up to 30 km/h. The results of the test indicate that DC motor requires power of 557.74 Watt at the speed of 317.04 rpm and generates torque of 16.81 Nm with energy consumption of 41.55 km/kWh. For the BLDC motor, it requires power of 526.62 Watt at the speed of 316.78 rpm and generates torque of 15.88 Nm with energy consumption of 50.59 km/kWh. For the same distance, DC Motor enables generates higher torque than BLDC motor. However, BLDC motor may present lower energy consumption per kWh than DC motor.