Fuel Consumption Potential of Different Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle Architectures in the European and American Contexts

TLDR

PHEVs can displace significant fuel across diverse driving cycles, yet the influence of driving conditions and standard test procedures on their global benefits remains unclear. The study aims to compare four PHEV powertrain configurations with varying all‑electric ranges in Europe and the U.S. under multiple test standards and real‑world cycles to guide the design of a limited set of vehicle options that maximize worldwide market penetration.

Abstract

Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) have demonstrated the potential to provide significant fuel displacement across a wide range of driving cycles. Companies and research organizations are involved in numerous research activities related to PHEVs. One of the current unknown is the impact of driving conditions and standard test procedure on the true benefits of PHEVs from a worldwide perspective. To address this issue, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) have partnered under the IEA Annex XV task to evaluate the market specificities between Europe and U.S. Four different PHEV powertrain configurations with four All Electric Range will be analyzed under different standards (i.e., NEDC, UDDS, HWFET) and real world drive cycles (i.e. ARTEMIS…. The impact of different driving behavior for Europe and the US market will be analyzed through component sizing, fuel consumption benefits as well as Green House Gases (GHGs) considering the electricity production mix. The study will provide insight on how PHEVs can be designed to support worldwide market introduction of a limited number of vehicle options to maximize market penetration.