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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
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ASSESSMENT OF FUEL ECONOMY TECHNOLOGIES FOR LIGHT-DUTY VEHICLES

Committee on the Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy

Board on Energy and Environmental Systems

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Contract No. DTNH22-07-H-00155 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Transportation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agency that provided support for the project.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine


The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.


The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.


The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.


The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.


www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
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COMMITTEE ON THE ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING LIGHT-DUTY VEHICLE FUEL ECONOMY

TREVOR O. JONES,1

NAE, ElectroSonics Medical, Cleveland, Ohio,

Chair

THOMAS W. ASMUS,

NAE, DaimlerChrysler Corporation (retired), Oakland, Michigan

RODICA BARANESCU, NAE, NAVISTAR,

Warrenville, Illinois

JAY BARON,

Center for Automotive Research, Ann Arbor, Michigan

DAVID FRIEDMAN,

Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, D.C.

DAVID GREENE,

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

LINOS JACOVIDES,

NAE, Delphi Research Laboratory (retired), Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan

JOHN H. JOHNSON,

Michigan Technological University, Houghton

JOHN G. KASSAKIAN,

NAE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

ROGER B. KRIEGER,

University of Wisconsin-Madison

GARY W. ROGERS, FEV,

Inc., Auburn Hills, Michigan

ROBERT F. SAWYER,

NAE, University of California, Berkeley

Staff

K. JOHN HOLMES, Study Director

ALAN CRANE, Senior Program Officer

LaNITA JONES, Administrative Coordinator

MADELINE WOODRUFF, Senior Program Officer

E. JONATHAN YANGER, Senior Project Assistant

JAMES J. ZUCCHETTO, Director,

Board on Energy and Environmental Systems

1

NAE, National Academy of Engineering.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
×

BOARD ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS

ANDREW BROWN, JR., Chair,

NAE,1 Delphi Corporation, Troy, Michigan

RAKESH AGRAWAL,

NAE, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

WILLIAM BANHOLZER,

NAE, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan

MARILYN BROWN,

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta

MICHAEL CORRADINI,

NAE, University of Wisconsin-Madison

PAUL DeCOTIS,

Long Island Power Authority, Albany, New York

CHRISTINE EHLIG-ECONOMIDES,

NAE, Texas A&M University, College Station

WILLIAM FRIEND,

NAE, Bechtel Group, Inc., McLean, Virginia

SHERRI GOODMAN,

CNA, Alexandria, Virginia

NARAIN HINGORANI,

NAE,

Independent Consultant,

Los Altos Hills, California

ROBERT HUGGETT, Independent Consultant,

Seaford, Virginia

DEBBIE NIEMEIER,

University of California, Davis

DANIEL NOCERA,

NAS,2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

MICHAEL OPPENHEIMER,

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

DAN REICHER,

Stanford University, Stanford, California

BERNARD ROBERTSON,

NAE, DaimlerChrysler (retired), Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

ALISON SILVERSTEIN, Consultant,

Pflugerville, Texas

MARK THIEMENS,

NAS, University of California, San Diego

RICHARD WHITE,

Oppenheimer & Company, New York City

Staff

JAMES ZUCCHETTO, Director

DANA CAINES, Financial Associate

ALAN CRANE, Senior Program Officer

JONNA HAMILTON, Program Officer

K. JOHN HOLMES, Senior Program Officer and Associate Board Director

LaNITA JONES, Administrative Coordinator

ALICE WILLIAMS, Senior Program Assistant

MADELINE WOODRUFF, Senior Program Officer

JONATHAN YANGER, Senior Program Assistant

1

National Academy of Engineering.

2

National Academy of Sciences.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
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DEDICATION

This report is dedicated to Dr. Patrick Flynn, a very active and contributing committee member and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, who passed away on August 21, 2008, while this report was being prepared.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
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Acknowledgments

As a result of the considerable time and effort contributed by the members of the Committee on the Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy, whose biographies are presented in Appendix A, this report identifies and estimates the effectiveness of technologies for improving fuel economy in light-duty vehicles, and the related costs. The committee’s statement of task (Appendix B) clearly presented substantial challenges, which the committee confronted with fair and honest discussion supported with data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the DOT-Volpe Research Laboratory. I appreciate the members’ efforts, especially those who chaired the subgroups and led the compilation of the various chapters.

The data and conclusions presented in the report have benefited from a substantial amount of information provided by global automobile manufacturers, suppliers, and others in the regulatory communities and in non-governmental organizations. Appendix C lists the presentations provided to the committee. Members of the committee also visited industry organizations in North America, Europe, and Japan. In addition, the National Research Council contracted with outside organizations to develop and evaluate a number of technological opportunities.

The committee greatly appreciates and thanks the dedicated and committed staff of the National Research Council (NRC), and specifically the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) under the direction of James Zucchetto (director of BEES). The committee particularly wishes to recognize the outstanding leadership of K. John Holmes, study director, and his staff. Thanks and recognition are due to the following BEES staff: Alan Crane, senior program officer; Madeline Woodruff, senior program officer; LaNita Jones, administrative coordinator; Jonathan Yanger, senior program assistant; and Aaron Greco, Mirzayan Policy Fellow, as well as consultants K.G. Duleep of Energy and Environmental Analysis, Inc.; Ricardo, Inc.; and IBIS, Inc. The committee also thanks Christopher Baillie, FEV, Inc., an unpaid consultant to the committee, for his many efforts, dedication, and hard work.

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the Report Review Committee of the NRC. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Tom Austin, Sierra Research Corporation,

Paul Blumberg, Consultant,

Andrew Brown, Delphi Corporation,

Wynn Bussmann, DaimlerChrysler Corporation (retired),

Laurence Caretto, California State University,

Coralie Cooper, NESCAUM,

James Fay, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Larry Howell, Consultant,

David Japikse, Concepts NREC,

Orron Kee, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (retired),

Steven Plotkin, Argonne National Laboratory,

Priyaranjan Prasad, Prasad Consulting, and

Lee Schipper, Berkeley Transportation Center.

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
×

did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Elisabeth M. Drake, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (retired), and Dale Stein, Michigan Technological University (retired). Appointed by the NRC, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.


Trevor O. Jones, Chair

Committee on the Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12924.
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 Homogeneous-Charge Compression Ignition,

 

54

   

 Combustion Restart,

 

54

   

 Ethanol Direct Injection,

 

54

   

 Findings,

 

55

   

 Bibliography,

 

56

   

 Annex,

 

58

5

 

COMPRESSION-IGNITION DIESEL ENGINES

 

61

   

 Introduction,

 

61

   

 Technologies Affecting Fuel Consumption,

 

62

   

 Fuel Consumption Reduction Potential,

 

68

   

 Technology Readiness/Sequencing,

 

72

   

 Technology Cost Estimates,

 

73

   

 Findings,

 

80

   

 References,

 

82

   

 Annex,

 

83

6

 

HYBRID POWER TRAINS

 

84

   

 Introduction,

 

84

   

 Hybrid Power Train Systems,

 

84

   

 Battery Technology,

 

88

   

 Power Electronics,

 

91

   

 Rotating Electrical Machines and Controllers,

 

91

   

 Cost Estimates,

 

93

   

 Fuel Consumption Benefits of Hybrid Architectures,

 

94

   

 Fuel Cell Vehicles,

 

95

   

 Findings,

 

95

   

 References,

 

96

   

 Annex,

 

97

7

 

NON-ENGINE TECHNOLOGIES

 

99

   

 Introduction,

 

99

   

 Non-Engine Technologies Considered in This Study,

 

99

   

 Fuel Consumption Benefits of Non-Engine Technologies,

 

106

   

 Timing Considerations for Introducing New Technologies,

 

109

   

 Costs of Non-Engine Technologies,

 

111

   

 Summary,

 

114

   

 Findings,

 

116

   

 References,

 

116

8

 

MODELING IMPROVEMENTS IN VEHICLE FUEL CONSUMPTION

 

118

   

 Introduction,

 

118

   

 Challenges in Modeling Vehicle Fuel Consumption,

 

119

   

 Methodology of the 2002 National Research Council Report,

 

119

   

 Modeling Using Partial Discrete Approximation Method,

 

123

   

 Modeling Using Full System Simulation,

 

131

   

 An Analysis of Synergistic Effects Among Technologies Using Full System Simulation,

 

133

   

 Findings,

 

135

   

 References,

 

136

9

 

APPLICATION OF VEHICLE TECHNOLOGIES TO VEHICLE CLASSES

 

138

   

 Introduction,

 

138

   

 Developing Baseline Vehicle Classes,

 

138

   

 Estimation of Fuel Consumption Benefits,

 

140

   

 Applicability of Technologies to Vehicle Classes,

 

141

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Various combinations of commercially available technologies could greatly reduce fuel consumption in passenger cars, sport-utility vehicles, minivans, and other light-duty vehicles without compromising vehicle performance or safety. Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy estimates the potential fuel savings and costs to consumers of available technology combinations for three types of engines: spark-ignition gasoline, compression-ignition diesel, and hybrid.

According to its estimates, adopting the full combination of improved technologies in medium and large cars and pickup trucks with spark-ignition engines could reduce fuel consumption by 29 percent at an additional cost of $2,200 to the consumer. Replacing spark-ignition engines with diesel engines and components would yield fuel savings of about 37 percent at an added cost of approximately $5,900 per vehicle, and replacing spark-ignition engines with hybrid engines and components would reduce fuel consumption by 43 percent at an increase of $6,000 per vehicle.

The book focuses on fuel consumption—the amount of fuel consumed in a given driving distance—because energy savings are directly related to the amount of fuel used. In contrast, fuel economy measures how far a vehicle will travel with a gallon of fuel. Because fuel consumption data indicate money saved on fuel purchases and reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, the book finds that vehicle stickers should provide consumers with fuel consumption data in addition to fuel economy information.

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