Advanced Vehicles and Powertrains

NREL supports the evaluation, development, and optimization of advanced commercial vehicles, engines, and powertrains through innovative engineering and data science.

School buses in a garage for maintenance service.

Advanced Vehicle Engine Research

NREL partners with vehicle manufacturers and energy companies to accelerate advanced engine technologies enabled by electricity, hydrogen, biofuels, and other emerging energy sources. Our researchers work on a broad portfolio of processes for converting biomass to transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel, jet, and synthetic natural gas and then help commercial fleets transition to vehicles that run on cost-effective, domestically produced energy and fuels.

Fuel Efficiency Modeling and Simulation

NREL offers innovative modeling and simulation capabilities to help vehicle manufacturers develop optimized, cost-effective powertrains that reduce energy and fuel requirements while still meeting consumer needs. Our researchers quantitatively analyze the impacts of various factors—including vehicle weight, rolling resistance, and aerodynamic drag—on fuel economy.

We have also developed multiple methods for predicting medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fuel consumption based on drive cycle properties. Our models have been developed and verified using data collected from chassis testing and real-world evaluations.

Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Powertrain Evaluations

NREL partners with commercial and federal fleets to evaluate the performance of advanced heavy-duty powertrains relative to conventional vehicles.

Vehicle Duty Cycle Data Analysis

Real-world duty cycle data analysis forms the foundation of our fleet performance evaluations. Our extensive in-use data on commercial vehicle duty cycles enable us to assist in appropriately sizing advanced medium- and heavy-duty trucks and siting charging infrastructure. Our portfolio spans long-haul and short-haul trucks, buses, drayage tractors, and more.

New Technology Simulations for Potential Fuel Savings

To evaluate potential fuel savings, NREL can model multiple vehicle optimization scenarios across a variety of powertrains, using real-world data. Such simulation studies can consider improvements to vehicle rolling resistance, coefficient of drag, and vehicle weight as well as alternative fuels and electrification across the spectrum—from hybridization to advanced powertrains using emerging energy sources and fuels.

Low NOx Engine Evaluation and Deployment

NREL researchers can help evaluate the viability of low-oxides of nitrogen (NOx) engines for commercial applications. Through customized analysis, we can assess the viability of low-NOx fueled engines that run on a variety of energy sources, analyze the costs and operational performance of low-NOx fleets compared to conventional diesel vehicles, and calculate the air quality improvements achieved by deploying low-NOx vehicles.