Study of Vehicular CO ₂ Variations in MIDC 2021-26-0196

With introduction of CAFÉ norms in India from Apr’17, the manufacturer of all M1 Category vehicles (not exceeding 3,500kg GVW) has to ascertain that they comply with Annual Corporate Average CO₂ Target as defined in AIS-137 regulation which is becoming stricter in future. Hence CO₂ emissions are becoming one of the major focus parameters during vehicle development. The assessment of CAFÉ compliance involves multiple steps. Firstly, test agency provides Type Approval and Conformity of Production emission test reports to the Designated Agency. Accordingly, every manufacturer submits Fuel consumption report/Passbook to the Designated Agency on annual basis. After verification of all data, the Designated Agency issues a status of compliance to the Manufacturer.

Such detailed assessment protocol presents a huge challenge for any manufacturer in maintaining the consistency/accuracy of CO₂ produced by manufactured vehicles within the Type Approved Limit. Therefore, there was a need to study and analyze factors causing CO₂ variations and devising necessary control mechanisms for same. In this paper, an attempt has been made to outline various parameters causing CO₂ variations during lab test conditions on MIDC test cycle. A variety of tests were performed on different vehicles and the results were investigated in order to identify the factors affecting CO₂ such as Dyno setting method, vehicle/lab variations, preconditioning etc. Wherever possible, the impact of such factors on CO₂ emissions has been analyzed based on real time/actual test data.