Determining the life cycle cost and reliability of an induction motor designed for light vehicle applications: a comparative analysis

Several researchers have estimated the life cycle costs for electric vehicle drivetrain systems. This article seeks to present an effective and sufficient methodology for determining the life cycle cost and reliability of an induction motor designed for applications in light vehicle traction systems. Studies comparing the life cycle cost and the reliability of an induction motor with permanent magnet and direct current motors used in light vehicles have not been explored and detailed in the literature. Only estimate-based comparisons were made between the life cycle costs and reliability of these machines. The life cycle cost calculations performed in this study were divided into three cost groups: acquisition, maintenance, and operational costs. The operating temperature and consumed energy used to determine the operating cost were obtained via simulations made in the Advanced Vehicle Simulator software program. A quantitative reliability study was carried out in order to calculate the maintenance costs. Of the three machines analyzed, the induction motor had a lower life cycle cost and longer average times between failures. The quantitative analyses have shown that the induction motor has greater reliability than other machines commonly used in light vehicle traction systems, such as Formula SAE and rally systems.