JRCmatics: Monitoring Fuel Consumption from OBD
Scope of the campaign: JRCmatics is a driving data collection campaign based on telematics designed to monitor the real-world Fuel Consumption and Energy Efficiency in passenger cars operating across the EU. For this purpose, we are looking for recent cars (from late 2020 onwards) to monitor their performance on the road and to have a snapshot of the Fuel Consumption and the corresponding actual CO2 emissions across EU.
How is the data collected: With the presence on your vehicle of the On-Board Fuel Consumption Monitoring (OBFCM) feature, fuel-consumption related metrics are obtained. These quantities are read by the OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) device we will provide you with, which sends these data telematically (via SIM card and internet connection) to a server hosted at JRC (EC) facilities.
What is OBFCM: According to recent EU regulations, the vehicle should have available specific fuel-consumption related quantities at the OBD port of the vehicle, such as total driven distance, total fuel consumed or (in case of Plug-in Hybrid vehicles) total energy recharged from the electrical grid.
What do we use the data for: Fuel consumption on the road might deviate significantly from the official values communicated to the users. We are collecting data to help us improve consumer information and to feed future regulations.
What do we monitor: Driving instantaneous parameters (every second):
- Speed
- Engine speed (rpm)
- Engine load
- Instantaneous fuel consumption
and lifetime parameters from OBFCM:
- Total driven distance (km)
- Total fuel consumed (L)
- Total energy recharged from the electrical grid (only Plug-in Hybrid vehicles)
Only if you agree, we will also monitor the location (GPS) of your vehicle to give more context to the data we collect (i.e. by considering influencing factors such as altitude or weather conditions).
Vehicle requirements: The vehicle has to be OBFCM (EU6 AP, from late 2020 onwards). Check for EURO 6 AP in the vehicle’s circulation certificate. Or simply contact us if you need help.
What is needed from your side: We will install a small device on the diagnostics port (OBD port) of the vehicle, and you shall continue using the car normally without additional care. The device sends data directly to our server hosted at JRC. The device does not interfere with your car, since it uses standardized protocols to connect to the vehicle and read the data safely.
Do you have access to your data: Absolutely. We are also working on a web-based interface that presents to users data about their driving habits and fuel efficiency, hopefully available soon. For the moment, we can share with you the overall data of Fuel Consumption and the raw files of specific trips upon request.
Will your name appear anywhere: There is no registration of personal information involved in what we do. The data collected are anonymized. Of course we will acknowledge all participants in our dissemination (if they consent to).
Is there any requirement on the use of the vehicle? No, the scope of this campaign is to collect real-world fuel consumption values from different users. No minimum mileage is required.
How long does the campaign last? As long as the user consents on the use.
Contact details:
Read the the Privacy statement
JRCMATICS - Scientific publications
A. Tansini, J. Suarez, N. Aguirre, A. Laverde and G. Fontaras
"From physical testing to on-board fuel consumption monitoring and telemetry: a pilot project for capturing the real-world fuel consumption of vehicles."
Proceedings of the 25th International Transport & Air Pollution (TAP) and the 3rd Shipping & Environment (S&E) Conference, pages 151-156, Gothenburg, Sweden. 2023. https://doi.org/10.2760/564701.