Publications

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.

Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, April 2010

6/1/2010

The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report for April 2010 is a quarterly report on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue describes prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between April 2 and April 12, 2010, and then averaged in order to determine regional price trends by fuel and variability in fuel price within regions and among regions. The prices collected for this report represent retail, at-the-pump sales prices for each fuel, including Federal and state motor fuel taxes.

Table 1 reports that the nationwide average price for regular gasoline has risen 19 cents per gallon from $2.65 per gallon to $2.84 per gallon; CNG price has risen 5 cents from $1.85 to $1.90; and ethanol (E85) has risen 4 cents from $2.38 to $2.42 per gallon. CNG is about 94 cents less than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis, while E85 is about 58 cents more per gallon than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.

Authors: Laughlin, M.D.

Smart Travel Options

5/21/2010

An Employee Transportation survey was conducted in the fall of 2009 to collect information on the commuting habits of employees in order to gain an understanding of the commute changes they would be willing to make as part of the Sustainable Campus Initiative at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This report describes the data collected, analysis and recommendations resulting from the survey.

Propane Vehicles: Status, Challenges, and Opportunities

5/1/2010

This report discusses the potential increase in the number of on-road propane vehicles. It outlines the state of propane technology, the current market status, available federal and state incentives, emission benefits, carbon benefits, barriers and opportunities in the marketplace for propane vehicles.

Authors: Rood-Werpy, M.; Burnham, A.; Bertram, K.

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.

An Experimental and Modeling Study of the Flammability of Fuel Tank Headspace Vapors from Ethanol/Gasoline Fuels, Phase 2: Evaluations of Field Samples and Laboratory Blends

4/1/2010

An experimental study measured the flammability of gasoline/ethanol fuel vapors at low ambient temperatures and developed a mathematical model to predict temperatures at which flammable vapors were likely to form. Results indicate that some currently available ethanol fuels are likely to produce flammable vapors within the ambient temperature range under Class 3 conditions. Results also indicate that mid-level ethanol blends (E20 and E30) are unlikely to significantly increase the risk of producintg flammable vapors over that of the base gasoline used for the blends.

Authors: Gardiner, D.; Bardon, M.; LaViolette, M.

Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, January 2010

4/1/2010

The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report for January 2010 is a quarterly report on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue describes prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between Jan. 19 and Jan. 29, 2010, and then averaged in order to determine regional price trends by fuel and variability in fuel price within regions and among regions. The prices collected for this report represent retail, at-the-pump sales prices for each fuel, including Federal and state motor fuel taxes.

Table 1 reports that the nationwide average price for regular gasoline has risen 1 cent per gallon from $2.64 per gallon to $2.65 per gallon; CNG price has dropped 1 cent from $1.86 to $1.85; and ethanol (E85) has risen 11 cents from $2.27 to $2.38 per gallon. CNG is about 80 cents less than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis, while E85 is about 71 cents more per gallon than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.

Authors: Laughlin, M.D.

Flexible Fuel Vehicles: Providing a Renewable Fuel Choice

3/1/2010

Flexible Fuel vehicles can be fueled with unleaded gasoline, E85, or any combination of the two. Today almost 8 million vehicles on U.S. highways are flexible fuel vehicles. The fact sheet discusses how E85 affects vehicle performance, the costs and benefits of using E85, and how to find E85 station locations.

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.

Guidance for Implementing Section 141 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007: Federal Vehicle Fleets and Low Greenhouse Gas-Emitting Vehicles

2/22/2010

Section 141 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) entitled "Federal Vehicle Fleets," amends section 303 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct92) (42 U.S.C. Section 13212). It supports the goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by prohibiting federal agencies from acquiring light-duty motor vehicles and medium duty passenger vehicles (MDPVs) that are not low GHG-emitting vehicles. This guidance document applies to federal agencies only. This guidance document does not apply to fuel provider fleets or state agency fleets subject to EPAct92 Sections 501 and 507.

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.

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.

The Contribution of Natural Gas Vehicles to Sustainable Transport 2010

1/1/2010

The number of natural gas vehicles and fuel stations has grown very strongly in the past decade and continues to do so, although it is still a niche market from the perspective of transport, representing less than 1% of the world road fuel consumption. Natural gas can play a significant role in cutting vehicle pollution but over the long term there will need to be a commitment to switch to very low CO2 gas sources. Depending on the context, NGVs can have strong benefits in different countries by improving air quality, reducing noise in urban areas; diverting oil from domestic consumption to export; and improving energy security.

Authors: Nijboer, M.

Notes: Document available free of charge from Web