Developing applicable driving cycle for retrofitted Plug-In Hybrid ElectricVehicles (PHEVs): environmental impact assessment

According to estimates by two market research companies [1], the proportion of hybrid vehicles in world vehicle registrations will increase from about 1.25 percent in 2010 to a maximum of 18 percent in 2020. A recent EURELECTRIC report [2] calls the plug-in hybrid “a logical development of the hybrid vehicle,” and envisions a potential PHEV market share in Europe of 8 to 20 percent by 2030. The global market for PHEVs is estimated to reach 130,000 vehicles by 2015 [3]. In light of this trend, standardization is needed. The primary objective of standardization is to lower development and production costs and ensure consistent quality, while at the same time satisfying all the demands of practical vehicle operation [4]. Adequate standards for measuring the performance or fuel consumption as well as the emission measurement standards do satisfy customer demand for comparable figures between hybrid models and conventional vehicles. The main objective of this paper is to provide a new adapted type approval test procedure for homologation purposes to better reflect the real environmental benefits of this type of vehicles. The driving cycle is based on the New European Driving Cycle. The environmental assessment together with the new Ecoscores [5] of retrofitted large family cars and SUV’s are evaluated.