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In the current diesel vehicle exhaust emissions legislation Particle Number (PN) limits for solid particles >23 nm are prescribed. The legislation was extended to include Gasoline Direct Injection (G-DI) vehicles since September 2014. Target of this paper was to investigate whether smaller than 23 nm solid particles are emitted from engines in considerable concentration focusing on G-DI engines. The literature survey and the experimental investigation of >15 vehicles showed that engines emit solid sub-23 nm particles. The average percentage over a test cycle for G-DIs (30-40%) is similar to diesel engines. These percentages are relatively low considering the emission limit levels (6×1011 p/km) and the repeatability (10-20%) of the particle number method. These percentages are slightly higher compared to the percentages expected theoretically not to be counted due to the 23 nm cut-off size (5-15%).

Gas-operated vehicles powered by natural gas (NG) or other gaseous fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), are seen as a possible option for curbing CO₂ emissions, fuel consumption and operating costs of goods and passenger transport. Initiatives have been adopted by various public organizations in Europe and abroad in order to introduce gas-fueled vehicles in their fleets or use retrofit fueling systems in existing ones. In this study a retrofit dual fuel (diesel-gas) fuelling system was investigated as a potential candidate technology for city bus fleets. The system is marketed under the commercial name d-gid. It is a platform developed by the company Ecomotive Solutions for the control and management of a diesel engine fuelled with a mixture of gaseous fuels. In order to assess its environmental and cost effectiveness the system was tested on a Volvo city bus. The tests were performed on an HDV chassis dyno under various driving conditions.

Energy efficiency of electric vehicles (EVs) and the representativeness of different driving cycles are important aspects to address EVs performance in real-world driving conditions. This paper presents the results of an explorative tests campaign carried out at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission to investigate the impact of different driving cycles on the energy consumption of an electric vehicle available on the market. The vehicle is a battery electric city-car which has been tested over the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), the current version of the World-wide harmonized Light vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC) and the World-wide Motorcycle emission Test Cycle (WMTC). The tests are performed at different ambient temperatures (namely +23 °C and −7 °C) with and without the use of the Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system (in cooling and heating mode, respectively).

The experimental measurement of the energy consumption and efficiency of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are key topics to determine their usability and performance in real-world conditions. This paper aims to present the results of a test campaign carried out on a BEV, representative of the most common technology available today on the market. The vehicle is a 5-seat car, equipped with an 80 kW synchronous electric motor powered by a 24 kWh Li-Ion battery. The description and discussion of the experimental results is split into 2 parts: Part 1 focuses on laboratory tests, whereas Part 2 focuses on the on-road tests. As far as the laboratory tests are concerned, the vehicle has been tested over three different driving cycles (i.e. NEDC, WLTC and WMTC) at two different ambient temperatures (namely +25 °C and −7 °C), with and without the use of the cabin heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system.

The experimental measurement of the energy consumption and efficiency of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are key topics to determine their usability and performance in real-world conditions. This paper aims to present the results of a test campaign carried out on a BEV, representative of the most common technology available today on the market. The vehicle is a 5-seat car, equipped with an 80 kW synchronous electric motor powered by a 24 kWh Li-Ion battery. The description and discussion of the experimental results is split into 2 parts: Part 1 focuses on laboratory tests, whereas Part 2 focuses on the on-road tests. As far as on-road tests are concerned, the vehicle has been tested over three different on-road routes, ranging from 60 to 90 km each, with a driving time ranging from approximately one and half to two and half hours.

Regulated gaseous emissions from two Euro 3 motorcycles and three Euro 5 passenger cars were measured over different driving cycles. The purpose of this study was to get data on typical emission levels and patterns of motorcycles and passenger cars currently circulating on the road in Europe. In respect to this, three driving cycles were selected: the current type approval driving cycles used to certify the test vehicles for emissions (NEDC for passenger cars and the EDC for motorcycles) and the world-wide harmonized driving cycle for motorcycles (WMTC). The gaseous emissions (NOx, HC, CO and CO2) were measured using the typical type approval test procedure for light duty vehicles. Since all the vehicles tested had been certified using the relevant current legislative cycle (i.e. NEDC or EDC), these vehicles were presumably not optimized for the WMTC cycle.

The increasing urbanization level of many countries around the globe has led to a rapid increase of mobility demand in cities. Although public transport may play an important role, there are still many people relying on private vehicles, and, especially in urban areas, motorcycles and scooters can combine handling and flexibility with lower cost of operation compared to passenger cars. However, in spite of their lower fuel demand, they might significantly contribute to air pollution, lagging behind cars in terms of emission performances. The aim of this paper is to provide the scientific community with the results of an exploratory test campaign on four different motorcycles, converted from gasoline to CNG by means of an after-market conversion kit. A fifth motorcycle, similarly converted from gasoline to LPG, was also tested. These vehicles are powered by 4-strokes engines with a displacement ranging from 50 to 250 cm3 and a power ranging from 3.0 to 16.5 kW.