Advanced Vehicle Performance Assessment

Abstract

In order to provide answers about the performance of vehicles driven by electrified drivetrains, appropriate test procedures must be developed that are robust and compatible with the technology. In IEA-HEV-Task 17, these results are presented from vehicles tested at the Argonne National Laboratory Advanced Powertrain Research Facility under direction from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies research portfolio. Chassis dynamometer testing with controlled conditions was employed and included adoption of sophisticated instrumentation, research techniques and considerable staff expertise in testing advanced automotive vehicle technologies. This process was going on for several years, including BEV and PHEV tests with a Nissan Leaf, a PHEV-converted Prius as well as a Chevy Volt (based on the reporting year 2010). This chapter provides comparisons between the different electrified vehicles in terms of their principal configurations and operating modes, charge-sustaining and electric-only and highlights the major findings.