Performance-based standards (PBS) is a regulation policy to address the complexity of variations in vehicle combinations. It enables a direct way of addressing certain requirements associated with the safety, environment and road network and their implications to the vehicle specific quantities without stipulating vehicle properties.

Computer-based simulations may be an efficient tool to assess the performance measures. However, using simulations through models in a legislation raise questions of model accuracy and model complexity. What is a required level of modelling details to be used to assess a PBS measure?

We investigate three level of complexity of models and the impact this have on three longitudinal performance measures; Startability, Gradeablity and Acceleration Capability. Simulations for 10 vehicle combinations are compared with two different engine alternatives. For Nordic countries, slippery road conditions are common during winter conditions. Hence, low friction is included in the comparison.

The comparison suggested that the complexity could potentially be kept really low, without major loss of accuracy. However, for slippery conditions, a higher levels of complexity might be required.