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Main topics are the development and the build-up of an 18ton hybrid truck with a parallel hybrid drivetrain. With this truck it is possible to drive up to 3 kilometers in the pure electric driving mode. Presenter Andreas Eglseer, Engineering Center Steyr GmbH & Co. KG

There are now a wide variety of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in or near production. They reduce or displace petroleum consumption with of various combinations of conventional IC engine, mechanical transmission, liquid fuel storage, electrical energy storage, electrical and electro-mechanical energy conversion, and vehicle-to-grid energy interface. These Electrified types of vehicles include Mild Hybrid, Full Hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid, Extended Range Electric, and Battery Electric. Some types differ in their actual usability for the real mixes of driving trips, and further that differ in their effectiveness to reduce or displace fuel in actual real world driving use. Vehicle size is also a factor in total vehicle utility in transporting people. If we may segment drivers by their driving needs, in each segment, we see a particular type of electrified vehicle that is better suited than others at minimizing fuel cost and petroleum consumption for the purposes of transporting people.

Plug-In Hybrid and Extended Range Electric Vehicle's have quickly become the focus of many OEM's and suppliers. Existing regulations and test procedures did not anticipate this rapid adoption of this new technology, resulting in many product development challenges. The lack of clear requirements is further complicated by CARBs consideration of CO2 inclusion in their next light duty OBD regulation. This presentation provides an overview of the regulatory requirements for OBD systems on hybrid vehicles that intend to certify in California. Near term challenges for EREV?s and PHEV?s are discussed, including concerns with the existing denominator and warm-up cycle calculations. Some proposals are made to address these concerns. Presenter Andrew Zettel, General Motors Company

A combination of laboratory reactor measurements and vehicle FTP testing has been combined to demonstrate a method for diagnosing the formation of NO2 from a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC). Using small cores from a production DOC and simulated diesel exhaust, the laboratory reactor experiments are used to support a model for DOC chemical reaction kinetics. The model we propose shows that the ability to produce NO2 is chemically linked to the ability of the catalyst to oxidize hydrocarbon (HC). For thermally damaged DOCs, loss of the HC oxidation function is simultaneous with loss of the NO2 production function. Since HC oxidation is the source of heat generated in the DOC under regeneration conditions, we conclude that a diagnostic of the DOC exotherm is able to detect the failure of the DOC to produce NO2. Vehicle emissions data from a 6.6 L Duramax HD pick-up with DOC of various levels of thermal degradation is provided to support the diagnostic concept.

The future deployment of safety-oriented Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) technology may be hindered due to the so-called “Market Penetration” problem: as a wireless network built from scratch, there is lack of value to consumers who are early adopters. In this paper, we explore potential applications that can be supported during the initial phase of vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET) deployment, i.e., sparsely populated VANETs. We show that delay-insensitive information sharing applications are promising since they only require opportunistic network connections (in contrast to safety applications that require “always on” connectivity). This is done via “gossip spread” information distribution protocols by which DSRC vehicles cache and then exchange the information while in range of other DSRC vehicles or road side units. This approach is especially attractive since the number of communicating vehicles will be very small during early deployment years.

With the introduction of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), the conventional mindset of “fill-up time” will be challenged as customers top off their battery packs. For example, using a standard 120VAC outlet, it may take over 10hrs to achieve 40-50 miles of EV range-making range anxiety a daunting reality for EV owners. As customers adapt to this new mindset of charge time, it is critical that automotive OEMs supply the consumer with accurate charge time estimates. Charge time accuracy relies on a variety of parameters: battery pack size, power source, electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), on-board charging equipment, ancillary controller loads, battery temperature, and ambient temperature. Furthermore, as the charging events may take hours, the initial conditions may vary throughout a plug-in charge (PIC). The goal of this paper is to characterize charging system sensitivities and promote best practices for charge time estimations.

The paper describes the challenges and results achieved in developing a new high-speed Diesel combustion system capable of exceeding the imaginative threshold of 100 kW/l. High-performance, state-of-art prototype components from automotive diesel technology were provided in order to set-up a single-cylinder research engine demonstrator. Key design parameters were identified in terms boost, engine speed, fuel injection pressure and injector nozzle flow rates. In this regard, an advanced piezo injection system capable of 3000 bar of maximum injection pressure was selected, coupled to a robust base engine featuring ω-shaped combustion bowl and low swirl intake ports. The matching among the above-described elements has been thoroughly examined and experimentally parameterized.

The SAE Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) Safety Working Group has been addressing FCV safety for over 9 years. The initial document, SAE J2578, was published in 2002. SAE J2578 has been valuable as a Recommended Practice for FCV development with regard to the identification of hazards and the definition of countermeasures to mitigate these hazards such that FCVs can be operated in the same manner as conventional gasoline internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered vehicles. SAE J2578 is currently being revised so that it will continue to be relevant as FCV development moves forward. For example, test methods were refined to verify the acceptability of hydrogen discharges when parking in residential garages and commercial structures and after crash tests prescribed by government regulation, and electrical requirements were updated to reflect the complexities of modern electrical circuits which interconnect both AC and DC circuits to improve efficiency and reduce cost.

A task group within the SAE Automotive Corrosion and Protection (ACAP) Committee continues to pursue the goal of establishing a standard test method for in-laboratory cosmetic corrosion evaluations of finished aluminum auto body panels. The program is a cooperative effort with OEM, supplier, and consultant participation and is supported in part by USAMP (AMD 309) and the U.S. Department of Energy. Numerous laboratory corrosion test environments have been used to evaluate the performance of painted aluminum closure panels, but correlations between laboratory test results and in-service performance have not been established. The primary objective of this project is to identify an accelerated laboratory test method that correlates with in-service performance. In this paper the type, extent, and chemical nature of cosmetic corrosion observed in the on-vehicle exposures are compared with those from some of the commonly used laboratory tests

This investigation was aimed at measuring the relative performance of two spray-guided, single-cylinder, spark-ignited direct-injected (SIDI) engine combustion system designs. The first utilizes an outwardly-opening poppet, piezo-actuated injector, and the second a conventional, solenoid operated, inwardly-opening multi-hole injector. The single-cylinder engine tests were limited to steady state, warmed-up conditions. The comparison showed that these two spray-guided combustion systems with two very different sprays had surprisingly close results and only differed in some details. Combustion stability and smoke emissions of the systems are comparable to each other over most of the load range. Over a simulated Federal Test Procedure (FTP) cycle, the multi-hole system had 15% lower hydrocarbon and 18% lower carbon monoxide emissions.

Mid 2006 a study group at General Motors developed the concept for the electric vehicle with extended range (EREV),. The electric propulsion system should receive the electrical energy from a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) and/or an auxiliary power unit (APU) which could either be a hydrogen fuel cell or an internal combustion engine (ICE) driven generator. The study result was the Chevrolet VOLT concept car in the North American Auto Show in Detroit in 2007. The paper describes the requirements, concepts, development and the performance of the battery used as RESS for the ICE type VOLTEC propulsion system version of the Chevrolet Volt. The key requirement for the RESS is to provide energy to drive an electric vehicle with “no compromised performance” for 40 miles. Extended Range Mode allows for this experience to continue beyond 40 miles.

Cast aluminum alloys are increasingly used in cyclically loaded automotive structural applications for light weight and fuel economy. The fatigue resistance of aluminum castings strongly depends upon the presence of casting flaws and characteristics of microstructural constituents. The existence of casting flaws significantly reduces fatigue crack initiation life. In the absence of casting flaws, however, crack initiation occurs at the fatigue-sensitive microstructural constituents. Cracking and debonding of large silicon (Si) and Fe-rich intermetallic particles and crystallographic shearing from persistent slip bands in the aluminum matrix play an important role in crack initiation. This paper presents fatigue life models for aluminum castings free of casting flaws, which complement the fatigue life models for aluminum castings containing casting flaws published in [1].

The USDOT and the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership-Vehicle Safety Communications 2 (CAMP-VSC2) Consortium (Ford, GM, Honda, Mercedes, and Toyota) initiated, in December 2006, a three-year collaborative effort in the area of wireless-based safety applications under the Vehicle Safety Communications-Applications (VSC-A) Project. The VSC-A Project developed and tested communications-based vehicle safety systems to determine if Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) at 5.9 GHz, in combination with vehicle positioning, would improve upon autonomous vehicle-based safety systems and/or enable new communications-based safety applications.

During sheet metal forming, the friction and surface roughness change as the sheet slides, bends and stretches against the tools. This study assessed evolution of friction and surface roughness changes on aluminum sheet with two surface finish conditions, mill finish (MF) and electron discharge texture (EDT), in both the longitudinal and the transverse rolling directions of the sheet. The sheets were tested using a three pin Draw Bead Simulator (DBS). Surface roughness of the sheet evolved as a result of bending at the first shoulder, reverse bending at the middle pin, bending at the second shoulder and unbending at the exit. Stretching conditions and sheet-pin contact were also varied to see the impact on surface roughness. In general, the largest surface roughness change for the transverse direction was observed at the convex side of the exit shoulder pin and on the convex side of the first shoulder for the longitudinal direction.

Aluminum sheet is commercially available in three surface finishes, mill finish (MF), electric discharge texture (EDT), and dull finish (DF). This surface finish impacts the friction behavior during sheet metal forming. A study was done to compare ten commercially available sheet samples from several suppliers. The friction behavior was characterized in the longitudinal and transverse directions using a Draw Bead Simulator (DBS) test, resulting in a coefficient of friction (COF) value for each material. Characterization of the friction behavior in each direction provides useful data for formability analysis. To quantitatively characterize the surface finish, three-dimensional MicroTexture measurements were done with a WYKO NT8000 instrument. In general, the MF samples have the smoothest surface, with Sa values of 0.20-0.30 μm and the lowest COF values. The EDT samples have the roughest surface, with Sa values of 0.60-1.00 μm, and the highest COF values.

An analysis of the first 35 back-over crashes reported by NHTSA's Special Crash Investigations unit was undertaken with two objectives: (1) to test a hypothesized classification of backing crashes into types, and (2) to characterize scenario-specific conditions that may drive countermeasure development requirements and/or objective test development requirements. Backing crash cases were sorted by type, and then analyzed in terms of key features. Subsequent modeling of these SCI cases was done using an adaptation of the Driving Reliability and Error Analysis Methodology (DREAM) and Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Methodology (CREAM) (similar to previous applications, for instance, by Ljung and Sandin to lane departure crashes [10]), which is felt to provide a useful tool for crash avoidance technology development.

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership-Vehicle Safety Communications 2 (CAMP-VSC2) Consortium (Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota) initiated, in December 2006, a three-year collaborative effort in the area of wireless-based safety applications under the Vehicle Safety Communications-Applications (VSC-A) Project. The VSC-A Project developed and tested Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications-based safety systems to determine if Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) at 5.9 GHz, in combination with vehicle positioning, would improve upon autonomous vehicle-based safety systems and/or enable new communications-based safety applications.

Forward Collision Alert (or Forward Collision Warning) systems provide alerts intended to assist drivers in avoiding or mitigating the harm caused by rear-end crashes. These systems currently use front-grille mounted, forward-looking radar devices as the primary sensor. In contrast, Lane Departure Warning (LDW) systems employ forward-looking cameras mounted behind the windshield to monitor lane markings ahead and warn drivers of unintended lane violations. The increasing imaging sensor resolution and processing capability of forward-looking cameras, as well recent important advances in machine vision algorithms, have pushed the state-of-the-art for camera-based features. Consequently, camera-based systems are emerging as a key crash avoidance system component in both a primary and supporting sensing role. There are currently no production vehicles with cameras used as the sole FCA sensing device.

Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications are gaining increasing importance in automotive research and engineering domains. The novel communication scheme is targeted to improve driver safety (e.g., forward collision warnings) and comfort (e.g., routing to avoid congestion, automatic toll collection, etc.). Features exploiting these communication schemes are still in the early stages of research and development. However, growing attention to system wide infrastructure - in terms of OEM collaboration on interface standardization, protocol standardization, and government supported road/wireless infrastructure - will lead to popularity of such features in the future. This paper focuses on evaluating reliability and safety/integrity of data communicated over the wireless channels for early design verification. Analysis of a design can be done based on formal models, simulation, emulation, and testing.

Incomplete vehicles are partially manufactured by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and subsequently sold to and completed by a final-stage manufacturer. Section S8.8, Final-Stage Manufacturers and Alterers, of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 126 states “Vehicle that are manufactured in two or more stages or that are altered (within the meaning of 49 CFR 567.7) after having been previously certified in accordance with Part 567 of this chapter, are not subject to the requirements of S8.1 through S8.5. Instead, all vehicles produced by these manufacturers on or after September 1, 2012, must comply with this standard.” The FMVSS 126 compliance of the completed vehicle can be certified in three ways: by the OEM provided no alterations are made to identified components (TYPE 1), conditionally by the OEM provided the final-stage manufacturer follows specific guidelines (TYPE 2), or by the final-stage manufacturer (TYPE 3).