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The paper describes the development of an innovative test rig for the evaluation of e-bikes in terms of energetic performances and control system. The test rig has been realized starting from a commercial cyclist training system and suitably modified. The test rig is able to reproduce an aforethought route or paths acquired during road tests. It is possible to measure the performance of the e-bike in terms of instantaneous power and speed, by the installed sensors and data acquisition system. The experimental test rig can simulate the resistant torque of a predetermined track and it aims to test and to optimize the control strategy available on the electronic control unit (ECU). An important feature of the system is represented by the possibility to adopt a hardware in the loop approach for the testing of the e-bike and of its control. Indeed, the whole control algorithm can be implemented on a suitable controller board able to execute real time processes.

Nowadays, due to catalyst improvements and electronic mixture control of last generation vehicles equipped with internal combustion engine, the most significant part of the total emissions of carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons takes place during the cold phase, if compared with those exhausted in hot conditions, with a clear consequence on air quality of urban contexts. The purpose of this research, developed by the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Naples Federico II with reference to an European background, is a deeper analysis of the engine and after-treatment system behaviour within the cold start transient and the evaluation of cold start additional emissions: a methodology was developed and optimized to evaluate the cold transient duration, the emitted quantities during the cold phase and the relevant time-dependence function.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of ethanol-gasoline mixtures on cold emissive behavior of commercial motorcycles. For the newly sold motorcycles, equipped with a three-way catalyst and electronic mixture control, CO and HC cold additional emissions, if compared with those exhausted in hot conditions, represent an important proportion of total emissions. On the other hand, ethanol is known as potential alcohol alternative fuel for spark ignition engines, which can be blended with gasoline to increase oxygen content and then to decrease emissions. From this explanations, a research on cold start emissions of motorcycles using ethanol-gasoline mixtures was conducted.

In all the world mopeds and motorcycles are popular means of daily moving, helping to meet daily urban transport needs, as a consequence two-wheelers contribution to air pollution is generally significant, especially in urban environment. Emission models commonly used in Europe, are based mainly on the average trip speed to predict emissions, thus they are not sensitive to variations of vehicles instantaneous speed and acceleration, which have a strong effect on emissions and fuel consumption; besides these models do not analyze in depth the cold emissive behavior of motorcycles. An expansion of the two-wheelers emission database was deemed necessary. This study is aimed at the examination of the emissions of in-use motorcycles during real driving conditions, contributing significantly to extend the knowledge of two-wheeler emission behavior.

All the experimental investigations performed in the last years on newly sold motorcycles, equipped with a three-way catalyst and electronic mixture control, clearly indicate that CO and HC cold additional emissions, if compared with those exhausted in hot conditions, represent an important proportion of total emissions. Consequently, calculation programs for estimating emissions from road transports for air quality modeling in dedicated local areas should take into consideration this effect. From this motivation, an experimental activity on motorcycles cold emissive behavior is being jointly conducted by Istituto Motori of the National Research Council (IM-CNR) and the Department of Mechanic and Energetic (DiME) of the University of Naples.

Mopeds are popular means of transportation, particularly in southern Europe and in eastern and southern Asia. The relative importance of their emissions increases in urban environments which host large fleets of mopeds. In Naples, for example, mopeds make a considerable contribution to HC emissions (about 53%), although the percentage of mopeds (12.4%) in the total circulating fleet is lower than that of other vehicle categories [1]. This study presents a method for analysing the influence of kinematic parameters on the emission factors of mopeds during the “cold-start” and “hot” phases of elementary kinematic sequences (speed-time profiles between two successive stops). These elementary sequences were obtained through appropriate fragmentation of complex urban driving cycles. In a second step, we show how to estimate, for the whole cycle, the duration of the cold phase and the relevant time-dependence function.