Vehicle Technologies Program: Goals, Strategies, and Top Accomplishments
12/1/2010
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Program (VTP) is meeting this American dependence on oil with an integrated portfolio of advanced vehicle and fuel research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities. VTP accomplishes this work in collaboration with industryleaders, national laboratories, universities, state and local governments, and other stakeholders--harnessing a vast resource of expertise to help technologies developed in the laboratory make the transition to commercially successful products.
The Recovery Act: Transforming America's Transportation Sector-Batteries and Electric Vehicles
7/14/2010
The current administration is investing in a broad portfolio of advanced vehicle technologies. These investments?investments in American ingenuity, innovation, and manufacturing?are driving down the costs associated with electric vehicles and expanding the domestic market. Investments in batteries alone, for example, should help lower the cost of some electric car batteries by nearly 70 percent before the end of 2015. What's more, thanks in part to these investments, U.S. factories will be able to produce batteries and components to support up to 500,000 electric-drive vehicles annually by 2015. Overall, these investments will create tens of thousands of American jobs.
As part of the Department of Energy's $12 billion investment in advanced vehicle technologies, the Department is investing more than $5 billion to electrify America's transportation sector. These investments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program are supporting the development, manufacturing, and deployment of the batteries, components, vehicles, and chargers necessary to put millions of electric vehicles on America's roads.
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: A Guide for Local Governments in Washington State
7/1/2010
In 2009 the Washington State Legislature enacted a new law designed to encourage electric vehicles. To create a consistent regulatory framework that would help this industry grow across Washington State, the legislature required the Puget Sound Regional Council and Department of Commerce to develop guidance for local governments. To meet this requirement, a broad-based technical advisory committee made up of local governments, charging equipment vendors, utilities, ports, state agencies, and consumer interests was formed. The state's new electric vehicle law requires that all local governments in Washington State allow electric vehicle charging stations in most of their zoning categories. Allowing charging stations creates the need to address a number of issues beyond zoning. These include on-street and off-street signage, charging station design standards, parking enforcement, accessibility for all users, SEPA exemptions, and more. These issues are addressed in this document.
Authors: Technical Advisory Committee
Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Value Proposition Study
7/1/2010
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have been the subject of growing interest in recent years because of their potential for reduced operating costs, oil displacement, national security, and environmental benefits. The primary value of PHEVs to the consumer is their likelihood to markedly reduce fuel costs by substituting gasoline with electricity. However, PHEVs are expected to cost more to purchase than comparable internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles or hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), in large part because of the cost of batteries. Despite the potential, long-term savings to consumers and value to stakeholders, the initial cost of PHEVs presents a major market barrier to their widespread commercialization. The purpose of the PHEV Value Proposition Study (VPS) is to identify and evaluate value-added propositions for PHEVs that will help overcome this market barrier.
Authors: Cleary, T.; McGill, R.; Sikes, K.; Hadley, S.; Marano, V.; Ungar, E.; Gross, T.
NREL's PHEV/EV Li-ion Battery Secondary-Use Project
6/1/2010
Accelerated development and market penetration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) is restricted at present by the high cost of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. One way to address this problem is to recover a fraction of the battery's cost via reuse in other applications after it is retired from service in the vehicle, when the battery may still have sufficient performance to meet the requirements of other energy storage applications.
Authors: Neubauer, J.; Pesaran, A.
Hybrid Electric Systems: Goals, Strategies, and Top Accomplishments
6/1/2010
The Vehicle Technologies Program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, is focused on enabling large-scale production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that are cost-competitive with conventional vehicles. They endeavor to reduce the cost of electrochemical energy storage and low cost advanced power electronics and electric motor components by developing simulation tools and modeling capabilities.
Plug-in Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: A Foundation for Electrified Transportation
4/8/2010
new opportunity for reducing oil consumption by drawing power from the electric grid. To maximize the benefits of PEVs, the emerging PEV infrastructure?from battery manufacturing to communication and control between the vehicle and the grid?must provide access to clean electricity, satisfy stakeholder expectations, and ensure safety. Currently, codes and standards organizations are collaborating on a PEV infrastructure plan. Establishing a PEV infrastructure framework will create new opportunities for business and job development initiating the move toward electrified transportation. This paper summarizes the components of the PEV infrastructure, challenges and opportunities related to the design and deployment of the infrastructure, and the potential benefits.
Authors: Markel, T.
Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles
3/1/2010
Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles evaluates various technologies and methods that could improve the fuel economy of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, such as tractor-trailers, transit buses, and work trucks. The book also recommends approaches that federal agencies could use to regulate these vehicles' fuel consumption. Currently there are no fuel consumption standards for such vehicles, which account for about 26 percent of the transportation fuel used in the U.S.
The book estimates the improvements that various technologies could achieve over the next decade in seven vehicle types. For example, using advanced diesel engines in tractor-trailers could lower their fuel consumption by up to 20 percent by 2020, and improved aerodynamics could yield an 11 percent reduction. Hybrid powertrains could lower the fuel consumption of vehicles that stop frequently, such as garbage trucks and transit buses, by as much 35 percent in the same time frame.
United Parcel Service (UPS) Evaluates Hybrid Electric Delivery Vans
2/1/2010
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory?s (NREL) FleetTest and Evaluation team evaluated the 12-month, in-serviceperformance of six Class 4 hybrid electric delivery vans?fueledby regular diesel?and six comparable conventional diesel vansoperated by the United Parcel Service (UPS). All the hybrid vans testedwere equipped with the same parallel hybrid system manufacturedby Eaton Corp., including a synchronous brushless, permanentmagnet motor (26-kW continuous power, 44-kW peak power)and lithium-ion batteries that provide 340 VDC and 1.8 kWh ofenergy storage. UPS is satisfied with its 50 prototype hybrid vansand ordered 200 more in 2009.
Technology Improvement Pathways to Cost-Effective Vehicle Electrification
2/1/2010
This paper evaluates several approaches aimed at making plug-in electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) cost-effective including opportunity charging, replacing the battery over the vehicle life, improving battery life, reducing battery cost, and providing electric power directly to the vehicle during a portion of its travel. Many combinations of PHEV electric range and battery power are included. For each case, the model accounts for battery cycle life and the national distribution of driving distances to size the battery optimally. Using the current estimates of battery life and cost, only the dynamically plugged-in pathway was cost-effective to the consumer. Significant improvements in battery life and battery cost also made PHEVs more cost-effective than today's hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (CVs).
Authors: Brooker, A.; Thornton, M.; Rugh, J.
Clean Cities 2010 Vehicle Buyer's Guide
12/1/2009
This 32-page booklet offers information about available 2010 alternative fuel vehicles including natural gas, propane, hybrid, ethanol and biodiesel vehicles.
Twelve-Month Evaluation of UPS Diesel Hybrid Electric Delivery Vans
12/1/2009
This report focuses on a parallel hybrid-electric diesel delivery van propulsion system currently being operated by United Parcel Service (UPS). The propulsion system is an alternative to the standard diesel system and could enable reductions in emissions, primarily particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), as well as reductions in petroleum use. Hybrid propulsion allows for increased fuel economy, which ultimately reduces petroleum use.
Authors: Lammert, M.
An Action Plan for Cars: The Policies Needed to Reduce U.S. Petroleum Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
12/1/2009
Reducing petroleum consumption and GHG emissions from cars and light?]duty trucks in the United States over the next several decades requires that we implement a clear and coordinated set of policies now. This report describes a portfolio of policies which, in the view of the authors, is needed to put personal vehicle transportation on the road to sustainability in the longer term. To incentivize adoption of more fuel efficient vehicles, we propose coupling existing near?]term fuel economy standards with a feebate incentive program and gradual increases in fuel taxes. We further propose driver education initiatives that would give vehicle owners information on how to maximize fuel savings in their purchase and driving decisions. Finally, we underscore the need for a long?]term strategy for fuels that evaluates fuels?]related programs based on their contribution to reducing life?]cycle petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Together, these policies offer a robust plan of action that will focus and streamline current efforts to achieve these two important national goals. Perhaps most importantly, this plan lays a much?]needed foundation for a comprehensive, adaptable long?]term policy effort. A more detailed summary of the recommended set of policy measures can be found in Section 2.
Authors: Heywood, J.; Baptista, P.; Berry, I.; Bhatt, K.; Cheah, L.; De Sisternes, F.; Karplus, V.; Keith, D.; Khusid, M.; MacKenzie, D.; McAulay, J.