With gas prices persistently rising, electric and hybrid vehicles are getting more and more common and in recent years several new electric cars have evolved on the market. Although the energy consumption and low emissions are a huge benefit of the electric cars, they inevitably suffer from high prices, short range and time consuming recharging periods. To be able to withstand the competition it is important that electric vehicles not only can withstand general were and tare, but also the harsh conditions that ordinary cars is exposed to in daily usage. The purpose of this project is to develop a test methodology which replicate situations that could appear in daily usage of electric or hybrid cars and to understand the problems related to usage of electric cars in winter conditions. This paper also discusses the major differences between hybrid cars and electric cars.

I snart 40 a?r har kommunerna i Norra Norrlands inland spelat en viktig roll i bil- och komponenttestindustrin. Hit har fordon sedan bo?rjan av 1970-talet kommit fo?r att testas till sin gra?ns i vinterklimat. Vinter- testning av fordon a?r en mycket viktig del av fordonsutvecklingen.