IMPACT OF VEHICLE AIR-CONDITIONING ON FUEL ECONOMY. TAILPIPE EMISSIONS, AND ELECTRIC VEHICLE RANGE: PREPRINT

Abstract

Vehicle air-conditioning can significantly impact fuel economy and tailpipe emissions of conventional and hybrid electric vehicles and reduce electric vehicle range. In addition, a new US emissions procedure, called the Supplemental Federal Test Procedure, has provided the motivation for reducing the size of vehicle air-conditioning systems in the US. The SFTP will measure tailpipe emissions with the air-conditioning system operating. Current air-conditioning systems can reduce the fuel economy of high fuel-economy vehicles by about 50% and reduce the fuel economy of today's mid-sized vehicles by more than 20% while increasing NOx by nearly 80% and CO by 70%.