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SMART@CAR: Sustainable Mobility - Advanced Research Team

The Center for Automotive Research at The Ohio State University has launched a new program focused on Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), Electric Vehicles (EVs) and intelligent charging.

MEMBERS ----> MEMBERS-ONLY ACCESS <----

Members sign an agreement that covers all relevant contractual and legal matters. A copy of the agreement is available upon request. The membership fiscal year begins on January 1, but members who join after this date are eligible to receive retroactive benefits. Thus, joining the consortium later in the year results in the same deliverables. Funds thus collected are divided among individual projects. Typically, 3-4 projects are conducted each year, and each member leverages significant resources. Members are key players in the process defining the direction of these projects. Two program reviews are held during the year, usually in June and December; following the final project reviews, deliverables (including reports, theses, data and papers) are made available to the Members through a secure website.Additional benefits include:

• Access to common pre-competitive research projects with leveraged sponsorship.

• Significant leveraging of government –sponsored research programs.

• Access to CAR professors and research scientists for limited amount of free consulting.

• Opportunity to sponsor named graduate fellowships at reduced fees.

• Direct recruitment opportunities.• Opportunities for teaming with partner members on bids for major government programs.

• Interaction with other consortium members on research projects in areas of mutual interest.

• Reduced fees for test facility use at CAR

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2010 RESEARCH AGENDA

Topics for research, development, and demonstration are determined by the members on an on-going basis. Currently on-going projects include:

PHEV Grid Modeling

This project will apply technology adoption models and use empirical data to estimate the likelihood of PEV purchase for different demographic groups. These estimates will then be combined with facility location and distribution simulation models to determine optimal charging and distribution infrastructures.

Multiple Vehicles Charging: Circuit and Control

The project is focused on communication related issues of the charging facility, such as communication schemes, critical information identification, impact from communication error/delay/hacker attack, and so on. Different network simulation software will be evaluated; then a communication network simulator would be built to go along with real time simulation system for electrical power system.

PHEV (Virtual) Fleet Study

The major new area of activity will be looking at charging control at the residential level. Preliminary results show that charging strategies that are cognizant of the transformer temperature can provide improved longevity for these critical components. The OSU team will fully explore the potential of this area of research.

Residual Life Characterization of PHEV Batteries for Secondary Grid Storage Applications

The aim of this project is to start to address the value proposition of the secondary usage of used automotive Li-ion batteries in grid storage applications like Community Energy Storage (CES) units. This project intends to utilize Li-ion cells which have been aged under automotive usage scenarios up to their automotive effective End of Life (capacity and/or power capability decrease of 20%) and test and evaluate their aging characteristics and life during secondary usage in CES applications.

In addition, the following projects funded by the CAR Industrial Consortium with support from the automotive industry round out the portfolio:

PHEV Energy Management

The aim of this project is to investigate control strategies for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, with the objective of minimizing multiple objectives, such as the fuel consumption and pollutant emissions, over a trip or driving cycle. This project is funded by the CAR Industrial Consortium (www.car.osu.edu/Consortium) and leverages 11 years of Consortium experience related to HEV energy management.

PHEV Battery Aging Studies

The aim of this project is to improve the current “battery aging” model that is directly linked to the duty cycles and permits battery life estimation under different conditions. This model is based on a more detailed analysis of battery duty cycles (history of state of charge, depth of discharge, current levels, temperatures) under different scenarios and driving needs. This project is funded by CAR Industrial Consortium (www.car.osu.edu/Consortium) and leverages 7 years of Consortium projects related to modeling, characterization and aging of advanced batteries.

NEWS

Moving Ahead 2010: Sustainable Transportation Solutions for the 21st Century – May 3-4 - The Ohio State University - Presented by The Ohio State University in Collaboration with Clean Fuels Ohio

Moving Ahead 2010 will bring together the transportation and energy leaders from industry, research, government, non-profit organizations and education, to have the tough conversations and build the momentum that will foster the actions we need for our transportation energy future.Moving Ahead 2010 is a wise investment. We are gathering the brightest minds and the most active entities in the mobility and energy fields to create a one-of-a-kind conference. We know times are tough and travel budgets are tight now, so our conference will provide a forum where real solutions and innovation can flourish at a very affordable attendance cost.This conference features the voices of the transportation industry, state and federal policymakers and research leaders in manufacturing, freight, energy production and distribution, as well as other innovators on the cutting edge of transportation issues including electric vehicles, efficiency, biofuels, transit, aviation, logistics, community planning and workforce readiness. Read more at http://www.movingahead2010.com/

OSU CAR hosts Plug Smart Ohio - Nissan Leaf event on March 10th, 2010

OSU CAR hosted the March 10th Plug Smart meeting with Nissan to discuss state wide efforts to bring the Nissan Leaf - an all-electric, zero emissions vehicle - to Ohio. All major Ohio utilities, municipalities, and government agencies, state officials and representatives, PUCO, and local universities that had an interest in Electric Transportation and making Ohio Plug-In ready were invited and over 50 people attended. Governor Ted Strickland came and shared his enthusiasm for the efforts being made. Plug Smart brought together interested parties who realize the benefit of carbon footprint reduction and sustainability in Electric Transportation. The focus of the March 10th event was to support the widespread adoptions of electric cars and ultimately, the economic development of the state. Mark Perry, Nissan Director, Produce Planning & Strategy along with Rich Housh, CEO and president of Plug Smart, and Dr. Giorgio Rizzoni, Director, CAR were keynote speakers.Nissan has formed more than a dozen partnerships in the United States, in areas including the state of Tennessee; the state of Oregon; Sonoma County, San Diego, and San Francisco in California; Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona; Washington D.C.; Seattle, Washington; the city of Orlando and the Orlando Utilities Commission in Florida; Progress Energy in Raleigh, N.C.; and with the City of Houston and Houston-based Reliant Energy in Texas.Presentations are available to SMART@CAR Members. Click here to access the files.

Ohio State takes lead role to improve State's Auto Industry

On the heels of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s State of the State speech, in which he suggested that businesses and industry work with Ohio’s universities to solve economic challenges, The Ohio State University is playing a major role in making recommendations to grow the state’s auto industry.At a recent meeting of Strickland’s Ohio Auto Industry Support Council, Giorgio Rizzoni, director of Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research and professor of mechanical engineering, presented a set of five specific recommendations to protect and advance automotive manufacturing in the state. The recommendations were developed by a council working group co-chaired by Rizzoni and Eric Burkland, president of the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, and including members Glenn Daehn, director of the Ohio Manufacturing Institute and an Ohio State professor of materials science and engineering; Noah Sudow, associate director of economic advancement for the Ohio Board of Regents; and John Magill, chief strategic officer of the Ohio Department of Development. More info available at http://engineering.osu.edu/news/?p=990

CAR provides expert review of California Air Resources Board proposed ZEV Regulations

The staff of the California Air Resources Board has posted the expert review reports of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) technical analysis. Four external experts—Dr. Menahem Anderman, President, Advanced Automotive Batteries; Dr. David Greene, Corporate Fellow, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Dr. Joan Ogden, Professor and Research Director, University of California, Davis; and Dr. Giorgio Rizzoni, Professor and Research Director, Ohio State University—were invited to provide independent scientific advice on the ZEV documents. The contribution by the Ohio State University criticises the White Paper for taking the view that plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEVs) will play an important role in the electrification of transportation only in the short-medium term, thus being considered a transient product. Read more at http://www.greencarcongress.com/2010/01/zev-review-20100120.html#more and http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/2010-01-26-california-s-revised-zev-regulation-enhances-ev-focus.php

CONTACT INFORMATION

For additional information and to join the program, please contact:

Dr. Vincenzo Marano (e-mail: marano.8@osu.edu, tel. 614-247-8690), Program Manager, OSU CAR, 930 Kinnear Rd. Columbus, OH 43212

DOWNLOAD AREA

SMART@CAR Deliverables 2009 - MEMBERS ONLY

Newsletter: PHEV News Vol.3 Num.1

Newsletter: PHEV News Vol.2 Num.4

Newsletter: PHEV News Vol.2 Num.3

Newsletter: PHEV News Vol.2 Num.2

Newsletter: PHEV News Vol.2 Num.1

Newsletter: PHEV News Vol.1 Num.2

Newsletter: PHEV News Vol.1 Num.1