Impact of Advanced Technologies on Energy Consumption of Advanced Electrified Medium-Duty Vehicles

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been leading U.S. efforts related to the rulemaking process for Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory, has developed a full-vehicle simulation tool called Autonomie that has become one of the industry standard tools for analyzing vehicle performance, energy consumption, and technology effectiveness. Through an Interagency Agreement, the DOE Argonne Site Office and Argonne National Laboratory have been tasked with conducting full vehicle simulation to support NHTSA CAFE rulemaking.This paper presents an innovative approach focused on large-scale simulation processes spanning standard regulatory driving cycles, diverse vehicle classes, and various timeframes. A key element of this approach is Autonomie’s capacity to integrate advanced engine technologies tailored to specific vehicle classes and powertrains. By customizing simulations to replicate real-world conditions for different vehicle types, this research provides nuanced insights essential for the development and implementation of effective CAFE standards.Our CAFE analysis encompassed simulation of more than 10,000 vehicle combinations across different heavy-duty pickup and van classes. The wide range of vehicle combinations we analyzed included electrified powertrains combined with various component performance scenarios. This paper details Argonne’s investigation into the performance and energy consumption of electrified powertrains simulated for the NHTSA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in 2023.