Overview
There is a strong trend towards highly efficient, low (preferably zero) emission vehicles, i.e. electrical vehicles. In order to facilitate the transition from conventional fuel-driven vehicles towards electrically driven vehicles, there is a short(er) term need for advanced plug-in hybrids and electrical vehicles with range extenders.
For this purpose, highly efficient, compact, clean and low cost engines are required. Such engines are to provide battery charging over longer trips and/or in areas where electric recharge infrastructure is not (yet) available. Moreover, these engines should be able to significantly improve over future Euro 6 standards for noxious emissions. The FUEREX project covered all of the above mentioned aspects with the focus on the application in battery electric vehicles with range extenders capable of using regular fossil fuels as well as bio fuels.
The CONCEPT is based upon:
- Three compact spark-ignition engines: (a) rotary engine, (b) 2 cylinder piston engine, and (c) gas engine as these type of engines have the highest potential to meet the requirements in terms of efficiency, fuel types, exhaust emissions, dimension, weight and costs;
- Multi fuel capability for regular fuels: petrol, LPG and CNG. And for bio fuels: ethanol and biogas as these fuel types are broadly available and have the largest market potential;
- Integration of the range extenders with state of the art battery packs;
- Demonstration of the integrated technology at a realistic scale.
The targeted end result of FUEREX is to prove the feasibility/viability of the range extender technology for the markets for sub-compact passenger cars up to light duty trucks. This will allow large market penetration of electrical vehicles. The consortium is built with industry partners: AVL as engine supplier, BOSCH as component supplier, Volvo (passenger cars) and ALTRA (IVECO light commercial) as end-user and research institutes, CRF and Chalmers and Uniresearch as service provider.
Funding
Results
As of December 2012, early January 2013, the final results have not yet been published and made public. This section therefore summarises preliminary and expected project results. These are among others:
- Demonstration of the potential of the different Range Extender technology approaches in different vehicle classes;
- Demonstrating emissions, efficiency and performance of different Range Extenders;
- Utilisation of project results by consortium partners, with a focus on product development;
- Creating representative driving cycles (urban, rural, motorway, etc), simulating real world usage, in order to enable comparison of various electric vehicles (including range extenders);
- Project results leading to the choice of technology paths;
- Design guidelines regarding how to optimise a Range Extender for a given vehicle and how to optimise the Range Extender itself.
Strategy targets
Innovating for the future (technology and behaviour): Promoting more sustainable development