*2.1. Overview*

Nanjing provides a favorable atmosphere for the development of pure electric buses. As a result, it was recognized as a C40 (an international joint urban organization dedicated to climate change) City in 2015 based on the Nanjing New Energy Vehicle Promotion program [16]. Additionally, it won the honorary title of 'National Demonstration City for Transit Metropolis' [17], which is awarded by the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China.

A commercial bus company focuses on profitability in addition to the social benefits that it offers. On the basis of guaranteeing a certain quality of service, the company is required to reduce costs to increase economic efficiency as much as possible. For this purpose, a road operation test was proposed by the Nanjing Bus Company, to determine the most cost-effective vehicles among several bus manufacturers.

The road operation test is a common method used to perform an all-around evaluation of vehicle performance. These tests replicate actual driving conditions and by doing so, differences between tests and reality are minimized. In addition to the characteristics of the vehicle itself, test results can also be influenced by the pavement conditions, traffic conditions, weather, driver behaviors, etc.
