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An experimental campaign was carried out to evaluate the influence of CNG and gasoline on the exhaust emissions and fuel consumption of a bi-fuel passenger car over on-road tests performed in the city of Naples. The chosen route is very traffic congested during the daytime of experimental measurements. An on-board analyzer was used to measure CO, CO2, NOx tailpipe concentrations and the exhaust flow rate. Throughout a carbon balance on the exhaust pollutants, the fuel consumption was estimated. The exact spatial position was acquired by a GPS which allowed to calculate vehicle speed and the traffic condition was monitored by a video camera. Whole trip realized by the vehicle was subdivided in succession of kinematic sequences and the vehicle emissions and fuel consumption were analyzed and presented as value on each kinematic sequence. Moreover, throughout a multivariate statistical analysis of sequences, the driving cycles characterizing the use of vehicle were identified.

In this paper some results relative to tests performed on road with a Fiat Panda Bipower, (CNG and gasoline powered), and a New Panda Twin Air with auto Start & Stop system, are presented. Gaseous emissions are measured with Portable Emission Measurement Systems (PEMS) on two different urban routes, in terms of traffic and slope characteristics during in use experiments. PEMS testing offers an easy and efficient way to evaluate the vehicle emissions over a huge variety of conditions and provides us a direct way to study the in-use emissions of combustion engines, when you want to verify the effect of the traffic and of a particular device on fuel economy and emissions reduction. Moreover now PEMS performances are very comparable to those obtained by standard laboratory instrumentation systems.

Nowadays, real-world emissions and consumption behaviour of Light Duty (LDV) and Heavy Duty (HDV) vehicles are key factors in achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) targets. With the introduction of EURO VI in 2013 there were already low emission levels and real fuel consumption of new HDV vehicles. Furthermore, the available public literature regarding fuel consumption of European HDV vehicles is not very extensive. Hence, the development of an experimental activity related to HDVs real consumption measurement and the subsequent data analysis can be considered in this field. To this end, the fuel consumption data of four rear-loader garbage Diesel trucks, managed by a multiservice company in the Southern Italy, were collected during real use. Vehicles in pairs have different technical characteristics (i.e. engine capacity and maximum load capacity of the garbage).

In this paper, first results regarding measurements of fuel consumption and emissions, relative to different traffic conditions and a specific urban area, are presented. The experimental approach used for the evaluation of emissions consists in: a) recording on-road car and engine operating conditions during designed trips performed in the center of Naples (Italy) by an instrumented car, b) determining by multivariate statistical analysis driving cycles characterizing typical traffic conditions, c) measuring emissions and fuel consumption in laboratory using defined driving cycles. Fuel flow rate measurements are performed at each second, while emissions are detected along a cycle and an average value per kilometer is obtained. Operating conditions of engine during laboratory testing are related to on-road operating conditions by comparing fuel consumption and exhaust gases temperatures measurements performed on-road and in laboratory by the same device.

A possible environmental assessment of sustainable vehicular transport is based on a comparative analysis through the LCA Life Cycle Analysis methodology of the entire vehicle’s life cycle. For this purpose, it could contribute to the choices of political decision-makers and investors in the sector of large infrastructure and industrial works. Therefore, the LCA activity is of fundamental importance for the estimation and analysis of the economic and social impacts through the comparative analysis of technological solutions in scenarios of “accelerated technological evolution” and/or “sustainable mobility”. The study could be designed for different vehicle segments to evaluate their efficiency and overall environmental sustainability also related to current social and political scenarios. Couples with electric and internal combustion vehicles of the same market segment and category may be compared.