The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has chosen AVL to provide a battery test system that includes vehicle-simulation capabilities that allow maneuver-based testing at the battery level as part of an initiative related to fuel economy and establishing electrification standards for hybrid and electric vehicles.
The initiative is part of the EPA’s significant investments in new and emerging testing technologies, and will result in the creation of an Integrated Battery Cycling System (IBCS) at the US EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
President Obama’s goal to be the first country to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 requires the establishment of standards to guide manufacturers in the production of these vehicles. Historically, technologies certified by the EPA in emissions testing have become the benchmark for the industry; the same is likely to happen for battery testing now that the EPA is beginning to test batteries for electric vehicles (EV), AVL suggests.
We are proud to have been selected to partner with the EPA as it establishes new standards for the automotive industry in battery testing and automotive electrification. This important new technology will lead the way for the industry as it turns to ever-renewable sources of energy.
—Don Manvel, AVL North America Chairman and CEO
The IBCS will give OEMs and battery developers guidance to help create testing scenarios they can easily replicate in line with demanding automotive applications.
At the heart of the solution is a hardware/software battery test system for automotive-specific hybrid/electric vehicle batteries. The AVL Lynx battery test automation platform provides an advanced, easy-to-use interface for configuring and running tests. The AVL In-Motion real-time simulation package adds functionality to create a road-, vehicle- and driver-simulation environment that enables tests to be defined and executed at a vehicle-maneuver level. This combination of products provides a set of capabilities that will enable the EPA to evaluate efficiently a variety of testing standards.
Greg Hopton, president, AVL Test Systems, Inc., noted that AVL also offers the EPA the added benefit of being both an equipment supplier and a partner with decades of proven powertrain engineering expertise.
Completion of the test site is expected by the end of this year.