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In 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched FreedomCAR, which is a partnership with automakers to advance high-technology research needed to produce practical, affordable advanced vehicles that have the potential to significantly improve fuel economy in the near-term. Advanced materials (including metals, polymers, composites, and intermetallic compounds) can play an important role in improving the efficiency of transportation vehicles. Weight reduction is one of the most practical ways of increasing vehicle fuel economy while reducing exhaust emissions. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of vehicle mass reduction for several vehicle platforms and advanced powertrain technologies, including Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and fuel cell HEVs, in comparison with conventional vehicles. We also explain the main factors influencing the fuel economy sensitivity.

Because of their high efficiency and low emissions, fuel-cell vehicles are undergoing extensive research and development. When considering the introduction of advanced vehicles, engineers must perform a well-to-wheel (WTW) evaluation to determine the potential impact of a technology on carbon dioxide and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and to establish a basis that can be used to compare other propulsion technology and fuel choices. Several modeling tools developed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) were used to evaluate the overall environmental and fuel-saving impacts associated with an advanced powertrain configuration. The Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) transient vehicle simulation software was used for pump-to-wheel (PTW) analysis, and GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation) was used for well-to-pump (WTP) analysis. This paper assesses the impact of FreedomCAR vehicle goals on a WTW energy basis.