Overview
We carry out vehicle measurements both in the laboratory, under controlled conditions, and on the road, under real-world conditions. The duration of these measurements might span from a few minutes to several months, depending on the goal of the data collection. Sometimes we want to apply rigorous protocols and define tight boundary conditions, some other times we want to gather vehicle operation data from as many real-world use cases as possible. Different types of assessments can be carried out: verifying the nominal values associated to vehicle technologies, assessing the in-service performance, collecting relevant data on how vehicles are used in the real-world, characterising innovative technologies under in-use conditions, and more.
Real-world fuel and energy consumption activities
Vehicle Integrated PhotoVoltaics (VIPV)
One of the activities we are carrying out aims at characterising the benefits of Vehicle-Integrated PhotoVoltaics (VIPV). This technology is designed to collect solar energy through the vehicle-mounted photovoltaic panel (this may be integrated in the roof and in other parts of the vehicle) and transform it to electrical energy for on-board usage. Due to the nature of this innovative technology, the evaluation of its benefits can only be supported by long-term data collection under real-world conditions, where the vehicle is driven following a realistic pattern and schedule, and the calculation is obtained considering a whole year of usage (or, ideally, multiple years). This technology is particularly suited for on Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), which are equipped with a high-voltage battery to store the solar energy. For this reason, we have selected one vehicle from each type for our activity. An ad-hoc data recorder was developed to collect data both from the vehicle’s on-board sensors and from additional devices (GNSS device to record the position, solar irradiance and cabin temperature sensors). The collected data enables for the collection of a rich dataset of driving data, including the characterisation of the vehicle exposure to sunlight and the electrical energy produced by the photovoltaic panel.
| 
|
