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The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy initiated a study that conducted coastdown testing and chassis dynamometer testing of three vehicles, each at multiple test weights, in an effort to determine the impact of a vehicle's mass on road load force and energy consumption. The testing and analysis also investigated the sensitivity of the vehicle's powertrain architecture (i.e., conventional internal combustion powertrain, hybrid electric, or all-electric) on the magnitude of the impact of vehicle mass. The three vehicles used in testing are a 2012 Ford Fusion V6, a 2012 Ford Fusion Hybrid, and a 2011 Nissan Leaf. Testing included coastdown testing on a test track to determine the drag forces and road load at each test weight for each vehicle. Many quality measures were used to ensure only mass variations impact the road load measurements.

For a series plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), it is critical that batteries be sized to maximize vehicle performance variables, such as fuel efficiency, gasoline savings, and zero emission capability. The wide range of design choices and the cost of prototype vehicles calls for a development process to quickly and systematically determine the design characteristics of the battery pack, including its size, and vehicle-level control parameters that maximize the net present value (NPV) of a vehicle during the planning stage. Argonne National Laboratory has developed Autonomie, a modeling and simulation framework. With support from The MathWorks, Argonne has integrated an optimization algorithm and parallel computing tools to enable the aforementioned development process. This paper presents a study that utilized the development process, where the NPV is the present value of all the future expenses and savings associated with the vehicle.

Today's advanced-technology vehicles (ATVs) feature hybrid-electric engines, regenerative braking, advanced electric drive motors and batteries, and eventually fuel cell engines. There is considerable environmental and regulatory pressure on fleets to adopt these vehicles, resulting in high-risk purchase decisions on vehicles that do not have documented performance histories. The Department of Energy's Field Operations Program tests ATVs and disseminates the results to provide accurate and unbiased information on vehicle performance (http://ev.inel.gov/fop). Enhancing the fleet manager's knowledge base increases the likelihood that ATVs will be successfully and optimally placed into fleet missions. The ATVs are tested using one or more methods - Baseline Performance, Accelerated Reliability, and Fleet Testing. The Program and its 10 testing partners have tested over three-dozen electric and hybrid electric vehicle models, accumulating over 4 million miles of testing experience.

The successful commercialization of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) can provide significant benefits by reducing the United States' growing dependence on petroleum fuels for transportation; decreasing polluting and greenhouse gas emissions; and facilitating a long-term transition to sustainable renewable energy sources. Recognizing these benefits, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) supports an active program of long-range R&D to develop electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technologies and to accelerate their commercialization. The DOE Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies (OAAT) supports several innovative R&D programs, conducted in partnership with DOE's national laboratories, industry, other government agencies, universities, and small businesses. The Office has two key R&D cooperative agreements with the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) to develop high-energy batteries for EVs and high-power batteries for HEVs.

This paper describes the results of Phase 1 of the Diesel Emission Control - Sulfur Effects (DECSE) Program. The objective of the program is to determine the impact of fuel sulfur levels on emissions control systems that could be used to lower emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) from vehicles with diesel engines. The DECSE program has now issued four interim reports for its first phase, with conclusions about the effect of diesel sulfur level on PM and total hydrocarbon (THC) emissions from the high-temperature lean-NOx catalyst, the increase of engine-out sulfate emissions with higher sulfur fuel levels, the effect of sulfur content on NOx adsorber conversion efficiencies, and the effect of fuel sulfur content on diesel oxidation catalysts, causing increased PM emissions above engine-out emissions under certain operating conditions.

The Advanced Battery Readiness Ad Hoc Working Group, a government- industry forum sponsored by the United States Department of Energy, is charged with assessing environmental and safety issues associated with advanced batteries for electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Electric and hybrid electric vehicles require sophisticated advanced battery storage systems. Frequently, toxic, reactive, and flammable substances are used in the energy storage systems. Often, the substances have safety, recycling, and shipping implications with respect to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation regulations. To facilitate commercialization, reg-ulations must either be modified or newly developed. Government-industry coordination has expedited needed regulatory changes, and promoted other partnerships to achieve environmental and safety solutions.

The effects of hybridization on heavy-duty vehicles are not well understood. Heavy vehicles represent a broader range of applications than light-duty vehicles, resulting in a wide variety of chassis and engine combinations, as well as diverse driving conditions. Thus, the strategies, incremental costs, and energy/emission benefits associated with hybridizing heavy vehicles could differ significantly from those for passenger cars. Using a modal energy and emissions model, we quantify the potential energy savings of hybridizing commercial Class 3-7 heavy vehicles, analyze hybrid configuration scenarios, and estimate the associated investment cost and payback time.

It is generally recognized chat methanol is the best candidate for long-term replacement of petroleum-based fuels at soma time in the future. The transition from an established fuel to a new fuel, and vehicles that can use the new fuel, is difficult, however. This paper discusses two independent investigations of possible transition uses of methanol, which, when combined, may provide an option for introduction of methanol that takes advantage of the existing industrial base, and provides economic incentives to the consumer. The concept combines the intermediate blends of methanol and gasoline (50%-70% methanol) with the Flexible Fuel Vehicle. In addition to a possible maximum cost effectiveness, these fuels ease vehicle range restrictions due to refueling logistics, and mitigate cold starting problems, while at the same time providing most of the performance of the higher concentration blends.