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Taking full advantage of available traffic environment information, making control decisions, and then planning trajectory systematically under structured roads conditions is a critical part of intelligent vehicle. In this article, a lane-changing decision-making method for intelligent vehicle is proposed based on acceleration field. Firstly, an acceleration field related to relative velocity and relative distance was built based on the analysis of braking process, and acceleration was taken as an indicator of safety evaluation. Then, a lane-changing decision method was set up with acceleration field while considering driver’s habits, traffic efficiency and safety. Furthermore, velocity regulation was also introduced in the lane-changing decision method to make it more flexible.

Numerous modern military and commercial vehicles rely on portable, battery-powered sources for electric energy. Due to their highly specialized functions these vehicles are typically custom-designed, produced in limited numbers, and expensive. To mitigate the power system's contribution to these undesirable characteristics, this paper proposes a modular power system architecture consisting of “smart” power battery units (SPUs) that can be readily interconnected in numerous ways to provide distributed and coordinated system power management. The proposed SPUs contain a battery power source and a power electronics converter. They are compatible with multiple battery chemistries (or any energy storage device that can produce a terminal voltage), allowing them to be used with both existing and future energy storage technologies.

Alcohols, because of their potential to be produced from renewable sources and their characteristics suitable for clean combustion, are considered potential fuels which can be blended with fossil-based gasoline for use in internal combustion engines. As such, n-butanol has received a lot of attention in this regard and has shown to be a possible alternative to pure gasoline. The main issue preventing butanol's use in modern engines is its relatively high cost of production. Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) fermentation is one of the major methods to produce bio-butanol. The goal of this study is to investigate the combustion characteristics of the intermediate product in butanol production, namely ABE, and hence evaluate its potential as an alternative fuel. Acetone, n-butanol and ethanol were blended in a 3:6:1 volume ratio and then splash blended with pure ethanol-free gasoline with volumetric ratios of 0%, 20%, 40% to create various fuel blends.

This paper presents a study of LPG lean burn in a motorcycle SI engine. The lean burn limits are compared by several ways. The relations of lean burn limit with the parameters, such as engine speed, compression ratio and advanced spark ignition etc. are tested. The experimental results show that larger throttle opening, lower engine speed, earlier spark ignition timing, larger electrode gap and higher compression ratio will extend the lean burn limit of LPG. The emission of a LPG engine, especially on NOx emission, can be significantly reduced by means of the lean burn technology.

Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE), an intermediate product in the ABE fermentation process for producing bio-butanol, is considered a promising alternative fuel because it not only preserves the advantages of oxygenated fuel which typically emit less pollutants compared to conventional diesel, but also lowers the cost of fuel recovery for each individual component during the fermentation. With the development of advanced ABE fermentation technology, the volumetric percentage of acetone, butanol and ethanol in the bio-solvents can be precisely controlled. In this respect, it is desirable to estimate the performance of different ABE blends to determine the best blend and optimize the production process accordingly. ABE fuels with different component ratio, (A: B: E: 6:3:1; 3:6:1; 0:10:0, vol. %), were blended with diesel and tested in a constant volume chamber.

Ambient temperature is a very sensitive use condition for electric vehicles (EVs), so it is imperative to ensure the maintenance of suitable temperature. This is particularly important in regions characterized by prolonged exposure to unfavorable temperature conditions. In such cases, it becomes necessary to implement insulation measures within parking facilities and allocate energy resources to sustain a desired temperature level. Solar energy is a renewable and environmentally friendly source of energy that is widely available. However, the effectiveness of utilizing solar energy is influenced by various factors, such as the time of day and weather conditions. The use of phase change material (PCM) in a latent heat energy storage (LHES) system has gained significant attention in this field. In contrast to single-phase energy storage materials, PCM offer a more effective heat storage capacity.

This paper presents experimental studies of particulate emissions in a small SI engine fueled with LPG and gasoline fuels. A single cylinder, four-stroke, water-cooled, 125cc EFI engine with gasoline fuel is used as the baseline engine. Characteristics of the particulate emissions of the two fuels are compared. Test results show that: there are great quantities of particulate emissions for both fuels, but the total numbers of particulate emissions for the two fuels are generally in the same level. The distribution of the particulate sizes is in bimodal type for the gasoline, but for the LPG its first peak is not markedly in some conditions. The particulate sizes of the second peak for the two fuels appear at about the same size. At middle loads and 3000r/min, the particulate emissions for both of the two fuels are the greatest.

This paper presents an experimental study of the emission characteristics of a small Spark-Ignited, LPG engine. A single cylinder, four-stroke, water-cooled, 125cc SI engine for motorcycle is modified for using LPG fuel. The power output of LPG is above 95% power output of gasoline. The emission characteristics of LPG are compared with the gasoline. The test result shows that LPG for small SI engine will help to reduce the emission level of motorcycles. The HC and CO emission level can be reduced greatly, but NOx emissions are increased. The emission of motorcycle using LPG shows the potential to meet the more strict regulation.

An air-cooled, four-stroke, 125 cc electronic gasoline fuel injection SI engine for motorcycles is altered to burn ethanol fuel. The effects of nozzle orifice size, fuel injection duration, spark timing and the excess air/ fuel ratio on engine power output, fuel and energy consumptions and engine exhaust emission levels are studied on an engine test bed. The results show that the maximum engine power output is increased by 5.4% and the maximum torque output is increased by 1.9% with the ethanol fuel in comparison with the baseline. At full load and 7000 r/min, HC emission is decreased by 38% and CO emission is decreased 46% on average over the whole engine speed range. However, NOx levels are increased to meet the maximum power output. The experiments of the spark timing show that the levels of HC and NOx emission are decreased markedly by the delay of spark timing.

The automotive industry is aggressively pursuing fuel efficiency improvements through hybridization of production vehicles, and there are an increasing number of racing series adopting similar architectures to maintain relevance with current passenger car trends. Hybrid powertrains offer both performance and fuel economy benefits in a motorsport setting, but they greatly increase control complexity and add additional degrees of freedom to the design optimization process. The increased complexity creates opportunity for performance gains, but simulation based tools are necessary since hybrid powertrain design and control strategies are closely coupled and their optimal interactions are not straightforward to predict. One optimization-related advantage that motorsports applications have over production vehicles is that the power demand of circuit racing has strong repeatability due to the nature of the track and the professional skill-level of the driver.

Vehicle needs suspension and steering systems with different features to fit different driving conditions. In normal straight driving condition, soft suspension and heavy steering systems are needed to achieve better ride comfort and straight line driving stability; in turning conditions, hard suspension and lightweight steering systems are needed to get better handing stability. The semi-active suspension system with Magneto-Rheological dampers can improve the ride comfort and handling performance of vehicle. Electrical power steering system is developed rapidly due to its portable and flexible operations as well as stable steering performance.

The new control algorithm for parallel hybrid electric vehicle is presented systematically, in which engine operation points are limited within higher efficient area by the control algorithm and the state of charge (SOC) is limited in a range in order to enhance the batteries' charging and discharging efficiency. In order to determine the ideal operating point of the vehicle's engine, the control strategy uses a lookup table to determine the torque output of the engine. The off-line simulation model of parallel HEV power train is developed which includes the control system and controlled objective (such as engine, electric motor, battery pack and so on). The results show that the control algorithm can effectively limite engine and battery operation points and much more fuel economy can be achieved than that of conventional one.

Since road electric vehicles typically require a significantly variable and random load power demand in response to traffic conditions, such as frequent sequences of acceleration and deceleration and uphill followed by downhill runs. In this context, the energy management system of electric vehicle must ensure an effective power distribution between battery and supercapacitor to satisfy load demand. In this paper, the power management control strategy of hybrid energy storage system is developed by introducing terrain information to optimize system efficiency and battery lifetime. In this presented research, we aim at developing a power management control strategy considering the influence of the terrain information on system efficiency and battery lifetime.

This paper presents the development of an electronic control LPG gas injection system and its application in a small SI engine. The tests results show that the developed LPG gas injection system can meet the needs for the goal of high engine power output and low exhaust emissions based on the engine bench tests. With the LPG electronic gas injection system, the air-fuel ratio can be optimized based on the requirements and CO and NOx emission levels are decreased significantly compared with the LPG mechanical mixer fuel supply system, based on the same HC emission levels. With the new gas phase LPG electronic control injection system, the HC emission level is controlled below the 300 ppm under most engine conditions and under 200 ppm when the engine speed is over 3000 r/min. The NOx emission level is under 2600 ppm in the whole range of engine operation conditions and is decreased by 2000 ppm compared with the LPG mechanical mixer system.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) blended with diesel without further component recovery which has high costs blocking the industrial-scale production of bio-butanol. The combustion characteristics of ABE and diesel blends were studied in a constant volume chamber. In this study, 50% and 80% vol. ABE (without water) were mixed with diesel and the vol. % of acetone, butanol and ethanol were kept at 30%, 60% and 10% respectively. The in-cylinder pressure was recorded using a pressure transducer and the time-resolved natural luminosity was captured by high speed imaging. Combustion visualization using laser diagnostics would provide crucial fundamental information of the fuel's combustion characteristics. With the different percentage of the ABE blended in the diesel, the soot oxidation, the ignition delay and the soot lift-off length were studied in this work.

Biodiesel is considered one of the most promising alternative fuels to petrol fuels. In this study, an attempt has been made to investigate and compare the effect of fuel injection pressure, injection timing, and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) ratio on the particle size distributions and exhaust emissions of the diesel and biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil (WCO) used in a common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engine. The engine tests were conducted at two injection pressures (800 and 1600 bar), two injection timings (25 and 5 deg before top dead center (bTDC) and three EGR ratios (10%, 20% 30%) at a constant fuel injection energy per stroke and engine speed (1200 r/min). The results indicated that carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions of biodiesel were slightly lower, but nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions were slightly higher, than those of diesel fuel under most operating conditions.

OBD (On-Board Diagnostic) test system is applied to research influences of environmental parameters (altitude and environment temperature) on real-world NOx emission and fuel consumption for heavy-duty diesel trucks in this paper. The research results indicate that altitude and environment temperature have great influence on NOx emission rate and fuel consumption. High altitude in range of 3000~4000 m results in NOx emission rate is lower than low and moderate temperature because of air intake amount decreasing. However the fuel consumption rate is higher than lower altitude because altitude influences real-time changes of air inflow and combustion conditions in the cylinder of the engine. NOx emission rate and fuel consumption is more stable at different vehicle speed, VSP and RPM at high altitude, and NOx emission rate fluctuate dramatically at low and moderate altitude. The fuel consumption rate is higher at 10~20 °C than that at lower and higher temperature.

In this study, an experimental investigation was conducted using a direct injection single-cylinder diesel engine equipped with a test common rail fuel injection system to clarify how dimethyl ether (DME) injection characteristics affect the heat release and exhaust emissions. For that purpose the common rail fuel injection system (injection pressure: 15 MPa) and injection nozzle (0.55 × 5-holes, 0.70 × 3-holes, same total holes area) have been used for the test. First, to characterize the effect of DME physical properties on the macroscopic spray behavior: injection quantity, injection rate, penetration, cone angle, volume were measured using high-pressure injection chamber (pressure: 4MPa). In order to clarify effects of the injection process on HC, CO, and NOx emissions, as well as the rate of heat release were investigated by single-cylinder engine test. The effects of the injection rate and swirl ratio on exhaust emissions and heat release were also investigated.

The poor low-temperature behavior of Li-ion batteries has limited its application in the field of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. Many previous studies concentrate on developing new type of electrolyte to solve this problem. However, according to recent research, the key limitation at low temperature is the low diffusivity of lithium ion in the anode electrodes. Hence, it is potential to study anode materials to improve low-temperature behavior of LIBs. ZnFe2O4 with higher theoretical capacity is low toxicity and abundance, contributing to its commercial application. Different ZnFe2O4 crystalline shapes have different particle sizes. Among them, the cubic ZnFe2O4 with smaller particle size will increase its own electronic and ionic conductance at lower temperature. In this regard, we evaluated low-temperature performance of LIBs with ZnFe2O4 cubes as anode materials at -25°C.

A fault tolerant control (FTC) approach based on reconfigurable control allocation for four-wheel independently driven and steered (4WID/4WIS) electric vehicles against driving motor failures is proposed in order to improve vehicle safety, performance and maneuverability after the driving motor failures. The proposed fault tolerant control method consists of the following three parts: 1) a fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) module that monitors vehicle driving condition, detects and diagnoses actuator failures; 2) a motion controller that computes the generalized forces/moments to track the desired vehicle motion using model predictive control method; 3) a reconfigurable control allocator that optimally distributes the generalized forces/moments to four wheels aiming at minimizing the total tire usage. The FTC approach is based on the reconfigurable control allocation which reallocates the generalized forces/moments among healthy actuators once the actuator failures is detected.