Vehicle Systems Analysis

Researchers examine how factors such as battery prices, fuel costs, and total cost of ownership influence the adoption of conventional and advanced vehicle technologies.

Using the ADOPT: Automotive Deployment Options Projection Tool, a vehicle consumer choice and stock model, researchers estimate how vehicle price, fuel cost, acceleration, range, and availability influence sales and energy use.

ADOPT incorporates the FASTSim: Future Automotive Systems Technology Simulator, which compares vehicle powertrains and estimates how technology improvements affect vehicle cost, performance, efficiency, and battery life.

Researchers also use the T3CO: Transportation Technology Total Cost of Ownership tool to analyze full life cycle costs for advanced commercial vehicles and evaluate costs and savings associated with switching from traditional diesel operations to electric.

Achieving maximum mobility with minimum energy relies on understanding the energy costs associated with various decisions. Using the RouteE: Route Energy Prediction Model, researchers calculate the energy and time savings potential of routing options and analyze opportunities for large-scale fuel savings.

By combining vehicle simulation with real-world operation—while accounting for anticipated traffic congestion, traffic speed, road type, number of lanes, road grade, and turns—RouteE estimates energy use and time across proposed routes. These analyses support enhanced choice and more efficient travel options for individual vehicles, fleets, and transportation networks.

NREL analyzes key factors affecting ride-hailing and mobility-service-provider fleets—including charging infrastructure needs and vehicle use under shared, automated, and electrified scenarios—to reveal how fleet operations influence energy use, vehicle usage patterns, and service.

Using NREL's HIVE: Highly Integrated Vehicle Ecosystem Framework, researchers simulate fleet operations, comparing outcomes across scenarios that vary with respect to location, vehicle types, charging and fueling station networks, fleet operational behaviors, and economic factors.

Emerging transportation technologies, shifting mode choices, and innovative business models—such as those introduced by vehicle electrification, ride-hailing services, and micro-mobility solutions—are reshaping transportation energy demand.

Researchers use NREL's TEMPO: Transportation Energy and Mobility Pathway Options Model to investigate long-term strategies for meeting key transportation and energy goals. As a transportation demand model, TEMPO evaluates opportunities for current and emerging fuels, technologies, and business models across various transportation sectors and segments, supporting integrated analyses.

To assure the accuracy of their vehicle systems analyses, researchers tap into a wealth of real-world travel behavior data from the Transportation Secure Data Center along with commercial fleet vehicle operating data from the Fleet DNA clearinghouse.