About the Project
NREL's Vehicle Systems Analysis Project Team has the capabilities and experience to help advance a variety of vehicle technologies.
Capabilities
The NREL Vehicle Systems Analysis Project Team, (top row, left to right) Emily Humphreys, Robb Barnitt, Kandler Smith, Matt Thornton, Mike Kuss, Kevin Bennion; (bottom row, left to right) Jeff Gonder, Aaron Brooker, Tony Markel
We use an integrated systems approach to evaluate emerging vehicle technologies for both light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles. Our methodology includes:
- Appropriate model selection and sub-model integration from our suite of tools
- Application of the models
- Optimization aided by our distributed computing facilities.
Our R&D activities involve on-road and real-world vehicle applications. This includes on-road data collection and real-world drive cycle development for the validation of vehicle system models.
Technical Targets Tool
Through systems analysis, we help develop cost-reduction strategies to overcome technical barriers in the use of advanced vehicle technologies.
We've developed the Technical Targets Tool, which sizes vehicle components to improve market potential and estimates a vehicle's oil use.
Experience
NREL has been testing and evaluating alternative fuel vehicles since the Alternative Motors Fuels Act of 1988.
Early activities focused on evaluating the performance of vehicles powered by electricity, and liquid (i.e., ethanol and methanol) and gaseous (i.e., natural gas and propane) fuels. As we helped overcome technical challenges, these alternative fuel vehicles subsequently matured, and the need to evaluate them waned.
ADVISOR
In 1994, NREL developed ADVISOR software with industry support. ADVISOR, which was commercialized in 2003, can be used to simulate and analyze conventional, advanced, light, and heavy vehicles, including fuel cell and hybrid electric vehicles.
See our publications about ADVISOR.
Hybrid Electric Vehicles
In the late 1990s, the interest in hybrids increased along with their potential to significantly improve fuel economy while using the existing, conventional refueling infrastructure. For the U.S. Department of Energy and its industry partners, this sparked the need to evaluate the performance of hybrids (both light-duty and heavy-duty), as well their components, considered for the marketplace.
NREL began to simulate, evaluate, and test various hybrid propulsion strategies and hardware components under controlled and real-world conditions. Today, these activities have expanded to include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Hydrogen-Fueled Vehicles
Our project also has directly supported the U.S. Department of Energy's response to the growing interest in hydrogen as a major alternative vehicle fuel. These efforts include simulating and evaluating the use of hydrogen in both internal combustion engines and fuel cell vehicles.
