Final testing confirms ADEPT 48V diesel hybrid reduces fuel consumption 10-12% at low incremental cost
13 September 2016
The three-year ADEPT (advanced diesel-electric powertrain) project (earlier post) in the UK set the target of developing and validating a range of advanced mild hybrid technologies with 48V “intelligent electrification” utilizing an advanced lead carbon battery. These have been applied to a Ford Focus project demonstrator which, for the first time, will be made available for public ride and drive evaluation by delegates at the Low Carbon Vehicle event (LCV2016), at Millbrook, UK.
Final testing has confirmed ADEPT’s key achievement of 10-12% reduction in fuel consumption (NEDC)—equivalent to sub-80g/km of CO2 emissions. According to the latest updated analysis of the potential cost of production implementation of ADEPT—conducted independently by Ricardo—the system would represent an incremental cost of in the region of €60 per gram/km of CO2 reduction. This is a result that makes the ADEPT powertrain architecture very competitive with other fuel economy solutions such as full hybridization, where costs of implementation can be significantly higher.
The Euro 6b-compliant package can also offer improved responsiveness and acceleration as a result of the increased full-load powertrain torque available through the hybrid systems.
The ADEPT powertrain concept is also equally applicable—with appropriate fine tuning of design and configuration—to gasoline or alternatively fueled powertrains.
Details of the configuration of the affordable ADEPT hybrid powertrain concept were revealed in late June together with the provisional results of vehicle testing. Today, these very positive results will be confirmed—and in the case of the Ricardo cost estimate for implementation, exceeded—in a presentation at the LCV2016 show, where delegates will be able to experience the performance of the ADEPT vehicle on the test track.
The ADEPT project has been led by Ricardo in a research partnership that has included the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC), Controlled Power Technologies (CPT), Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies UK Ltd, Ford Motor Company and the University of Nottingham. The research project was jointly funded by the UK Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) implemented through the UK innovation agency, Innovate UK, with matching contributions from the participating partners.
Comments