Review of the Research Program of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles Second Report (1996) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 6-26
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From page 6... ...
Significantly improve national competitiveness in manufacturing. Implement commercially viable innovation from ongoing research on conventional vehicles.
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From page 7... ...
The PNGV concept is to bring together the extensive research and development resources of the federal establishment, including its national laboratories and network of university-based research institutions, and the vehicle design, manufacturing, and marketing capabilities of both the USCAR partners and suppliers to the automotive industry. Government funding for the PNGV will primarily be used for technology developments that involve high risk (Goal 3 and beyond)
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From page 8... ...
These issues include: development of a technology strategy, as outlined in the PNGV Technical Roadmap (PNGV, 1995) a document that is still evolving and is subject to revisions involvement of suppliers, notably in the development of improved materials and manufacturing processes preliminary benchmarking of technology developments abroad enhancement of public outreach, primarily through a media education program and the PNGV home page on the World Wide Web However, the PNGV has yet to address other important issues in a substantive way.
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From page 9... ...
Two recent reports on automotive fuel economy also highlight the limitations of current automotive technologies and indicate that new concepts and technologies will be required to meet demanding fuel economy targets (OTA, 1991; NRC, 1992~. Preliminary studies by PNGV provided an overview of the performance improvements necessary in major vehicle systems to obtain the 80-mpg equivalent fuel economy; tradeoffs were identified between increasing drivetrain efficiency, reducing vehicle mass, and increasing storage of deceleration energy, along with projected improvements in aerodynamics, rolling resistance, and accessory power requirements.
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Most of the technical efforts to date have focused on improving drivetrain efficiency, developing improved energy-storage systems, and reducing vehicle mass through the use of lightweight structural materials. A number of significant achievements have been made, although there are still formidable barriers to meeting the program goals within the PNGV schedule.
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From page 11... ...
If the standards become more stringent than those for the current ultra low emission vehicle, DICI engines could be eliminated from the marketplace. It is the committee's understanding that little or no significant research is being performed on DICI automotive engines in the United States, except for investigations of lean-burn NOx reduction and fuel reformulation.
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Despite this progress, fuel-related barriers remain. There is as yet no satisfactory method of storing sufficient quantities of hydrogen for hydrogenpowered vehicles onboard, and reformers do not meet acceptable cost, size, and performance requirements for storing hydrocarbon fuels in hydrocarbonpowered fuel cell vehicles.
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The thermal efficiency gains needed to meet PNGV goals depend on developments in three technical areas: raising turbine inlet temperatures; recovering a significant amount of waste heat; and increasing component efficiencies. Raising turbine inlet temperatures requires appropriate hightemperature materials.
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The performance of ultracapacitors has shown significant improvement in laboratory demonstrations, with energy and power densities up to 10 Wh/kg and 2 kW/kg, respectively; greater than 90 percent turnaround efficiency; and greater than 100,000 cycles. Major barriers remain with respect to total energy storage, which is currently limited to less than about 2 kWh, and costs, which must be reduced by about two orders of magnitude to meet PNGV requirements.
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The committee anticipates that these barriers can be overcome if investigations are appropriately focused and resources are applied by effective, integrated USCAR teams. Summary of Achievements The committee concluded that the PNGV has made significant technical progress since the Phase 1 peer review, notably in the following areas: development of a catalyst demonstrating substantial reductions in NOx exhaust emissions satisfactory completion of a 1,000-hr rig test of ceramic vanes and blades for gas turbine engines
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For each major subsystem, the committee identified the most critical barriers to meeting PNGV performance requirements, as well as the approximate cost and the likelihood of meeting PAGE schedules. These three factors were used to derive a first approximation of the overall PNGV potential regardless of the PNGV schedule and to further highlight program priorities.
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In contrast, it is not apparent that the barriers for gas turbines meeting PNGV targets can be overcome without major breakthroughs, even with additional resources. Despite significant R&D effort over the past 20 years and some limited successes there is currently no robust, low-cost manufacturing process for producing high-temperature structural ceramics that have the necessary combination of strength and toughness for use in automobiles.
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It would help accelerate the systems analysis activity and make up for lost time if the USCAR partners provided PNGV with their in-house systems models to the extent appropriate. The committee concludes that the PNGV does not currently have the necessary systems analysis tools to adequately support the technology selection scheduled for 1997.
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and reviewed articles on foreign automotive technology programs to assess the competitive status of the PNGV program from a broad, international perspective. Active government-industry partnerships in Europe and Japan somewhat analogous to the PNGV initiative- are pursuing the development of advanced automotive technologies to maintain or enhance their international competitiveness.
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If warranted by the results of such analyses, PNGV should reassess its research priorities. PROGRAM ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT The committee noted that the PNGV Technical Roadmap, developed since the Phase 1 review, does a good job of describing the major technologies being pursued, the target performance levels, and the schedule.4 The committee assumed that some missing details in the roadmap (identifying It is the committee's understanding that these technical targets are preliminary and subject to change as progress is made in Me PNGV R&D program.
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, sharing PNGV and USCAR information as appropriate. The committee noted that this change puts an added premium on good communications among the USCAR partners, as well as between USCAR and government participants in the PNGV, to ensure that there is close coordination between the work of the PNGV technical teams and the needs of the individual automotive manufacturers and that government-sponsored projects have the greatest opportunity of providing the essential technology to meet unified performance requirements.
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In particular, PNGV management on the government side has little or no ability to redeploy funds from less significant to more important projects in response to budget reductions or following technology selection. The committee considers strong central program management on the government side to be essential to the success of the program, particularly in the absence of a single USCAR technical program director.
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A careful assessment of infrastructure issues associated with alternative technologies should be an essential part of the technology selection process scheduled for 1997. Recommendation.
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The PNGV program office has made significant progress in this regard in the past year, primarily through a media education effort and the establishment of a World Wide Web site on the Internet. Opportunities may exist for the PNGV to further enhance the effectiveness of its media education effort by instituting strong coordination among the public affairs representatives of all the agencies participating in the program.
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To be successful, a complex development program such as PNGV must have well-defined plans and objectives, adequate resources, and be supported by sufficient funding. It is incumbent upon both USCAR and the government to ensure that adequate resources for the PNGV program are provided in a timely manner and used efficiently in overcoming the critical barriers to achieving PNGV goals.
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From page 26... ...
1995. Fuel cells for transport-can the promise be fulfilled?
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