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The EU SPARC Project (Secure Propelled Vehicle with Advanced Redundant Control) has developed a new system architecture that enables effective application of driver assisted systems in an X-by-wire powertrain. A major challenge in the conception of such a system is development of a reliable electrical energy supply. A simulation is the most important tool for enabling the fundamental aspects to work, as for example, a dimensioning of the powernet. This article explains our approach in this SPARC simulation. We provide suggestions through examples of how to find simulation solutions for powernet dimensioning, as well as for the conception and validation of energy management strategies.

Recently Volvo Car Corporation introduced the new PremAir® catalyst system from Engelhard Corporation on their S80 luxury sedan and the new V70 estate wagon. In this paper, performance results of this catalyst system after long-term mileage accumulation will be presented. Urban taxi vehicles were used to test the catalyst over 110,000 miles. The rate of deactivation in long-term catalyst performance was found to be dependent on the radiator design, and was least for the radiator design with the highest total geometric surface area. Subsequently, a new catalyst version was developed in order to minimize the deactivation rate. This new catalyst has been evaluated under similar taxi driving conditions over 80,000 miles, and has shown improved durability performance.

Life cycle assessment offers a suitable methodology to evaluate environmental impacts over the total life cycle of the car. Indeed the effort for LCA studies of complex products like cars is very high. Design for environment tools can help to reduce the effort for environmental evaluation because of their direct integration in the designers workflow. As DFE is not standardized, it should be based on the reliable data from LCA. A connection between LCA and DFE offers the possibility to integrate environmental evaluation with tolerable effort directly in the design process while keeping the transparency and reliability of LCA.