earpa position paper 2010

8/6/2019 EARPA Position Paper 2010

1/13

A Vision for Integrated Road Transport Research

EARPA Position Paper 2010


2/13

Road Transport is at the heart o some o the most signifcant

Societal Grand Challenges. The importance o energy security and

sustainability, climate change, environmental issues and road saety

are increasingly well understood; the need or accessible, aordable

and robust mobility is appreciated by our increasingly urbanised

populations; the recent global fnancial crisis has underscored

the need to urther enhance European competitiveness. The

implementation o new technology, encouraged by grant-supported

research activity, is key to bringing about the paradigm shits needed

to meet these challenges.

The positioning o EARPAs members, combining exposure to

commercial product development with links in to academic research,

has enabled them to make a valuable contribution to the European

Research Area, in terms o research delivery, innovation and strategic

vision. Through the activities o EARPAs themed Task Forces, ideas and

priorities or research are developed and shared with stakeholders and

European Technology Platorms. EARPA members have supported the

development o the new 2010 ERTRAC Strategic Research Agenda,

Towards a 50% more ecient road transport system by 2030; and

are regular participants in European Framework and Member State

supported research programs, contributing to the development o

many key transport technologies.

This document brings together EARPA viewpoints on European

research towards the Eighth Framework Programme (FP8), both rom

the holistic context o European research versus global benchmarks,

and with insight into individual technological areas.

Key points made are:

The importance o automotive research is driven not just by the

direct contribution o the sector to Gross Domestic Product, but also

by its inuential impact on a number o Societal Grand Challenges.

The eectiveness o European research can be improved through

better coordination between European and National research

agendas, recognising that dierent types o research may be better

suited to one or the other limited budgets mean that European-

level research needs to ocus on those areas that beneft most

rom European-level integration, whether to solve technological or

inrastructural hurdles.

Executive Summary

The eectiveness o European research can also be improved

by implementing best practises rom around the world to create

accessible, responsive and exible research instruments.

The issue o Powering Road Transport the supply o sustainable

energy and low carbon propulsion technology will remain

a key one or many decades. Game-changing solutions such

as Electrifcation and the Hydrogen / Fuel Cell pairing require

technological progress to migrate to the aordable mainstream,

but this process will not be instantaneous, and the potential o

improved internal combustion engines and lower-carbon liquid

uels (especially bio-uels) should not be overlooked.

A spectrum o technologies can deliver an Intelligent, Saer and

Greener Future or Mobility meaning that serious accidents,

environmental impacts and disruption to mobility through

congestion are reduced towards zero. Holistic approaches are

required to achieve results through a combination o intelligent

vehicle and inrastructure technologies, which maximise the

utilisation o existing road inrastructure, with enablement through

policymaking and behaviour change.

Research into enabling technology building-blocks such as

materials, embedded systems, and simulation tools is vital to

realising the implementation o the technologies above.

This document contains numerous reerences to EARPAs other works

in this feld. EARPA hopes that, by bringing these to your attention, we

can continue to be a strong contributor to a uture where the Societal

Grand Challenges o road transport are successully addressed by

uture European and National research unding programmes.

EARPA The European AutomotiveResearch Partners Association

Founded in 2002, EARPA is the association o automotive R&D

organisations. It brings together the most prominent independent R&D

providers in the automotive sector throughout Europe. I ts membership

counts at present 38 members ranging rom large and small commercial

organisations to national institutes and universities. EARPA, as the

platorm o automotive researchers, aims at actively contributing to the

European Research Area and the uture EU Framework Programmes. In

this task, EARPA seeks a close cooperation with the automotive industry,

the automotive suppliers, the oil industry as well as the European

Institutions and the EU Member States. The unique position o EARPA is

the independence o its members.

Inormation is available at www.earpa.eu

1


3/13

In July 2009, a conerence on research and innovation was held in

Lund, Sweden, hosted by the Swedish Presidency o the Council o

the European Union. Here, around 350 researchers, policy makers

and representatives rom industry and research unding institutions

agreed on the Lund Declaration [1], which stated that European

research policy should ocus on global Societal Grand Challenges

such as climate change, water shortage and pandemics.

Road transport is a part o these Societal Grand Challenges in many

ways: emissions rom transport propulsion lead to concerns over air

quality and climate change; the death toll rom accidents remains

unacceptable; rising pressures on the road inrastructure create social

burdens o noise intrusion, air quality issues and reduced accessibility

to mobility; and the economic success o the road transport

industries is pivotal to Europes economic health. Grand Challenges

can be addressed in many ways, rom changes in economic drivers

and public behaviour, to the encouragement and introduction o

new technologies. In road transport, both the technologies and the

behavioural aspects o the vehicles user and inrastructure at large are

becoming increasingly interwoven through, or example, intelligent

transport systems and new transport energy inrastructures.

Thereore, there is now a powerul need to perorm research into

technological and socio-economic solutions.

The objective o this paper is to look at these Grand Challenges in

the context o road transport issues, and draw upon the expertise

o EARPA specialist Task Forces to postulate some areas o priority

or public support instruments that address them such as the

orthcoming Eighth Framework (FP8) programme.

The Global Context

Sustainable Economic Competitiveness

Building an Inclusive Society

Energy and Environment

Climate Change, Security o Energy Supply

Local Air Quality, Trac Noise in Communities

Safe Secure Mobility

Saety o all road users

Freedom rom Congestion

Universal access to Mobility

Areas of Challenge

European Research in a Global ContextIn 2000, the European Council launched the concept o the European

Research Area, and set the challenging target o increasing research

expenditure rom 2% o Gross Domestic Product (GDP), to a level o 3%

by 2010. This investment is the mechanism by which Europe maintains

its advantage in terms o value-added economic competitiveness

and a healthy social environment; and co-unding o research by

the European Commission and Member State governments is a key

mechanism to promote and ocus research eort. While the desired

increase has not yet been achieved, the past decade has seen the

introduction o many innovative unding and fnancing instruments,

including Integrated Projects, wide-scale Networks o Excellence,

Joint Technology Initiatives and Public-Private Partnerships; together

with the ERA-Net trans-national co-operation mechanism and the

European Investment Banks Risk Sharing Finance Facility.

However, over the past decade the rest o the world has not stood

still. China now ranks alongside the EU-27 and USA as a major player

in science and engineering research, while Japan and Korea now

spend over 3% o GDP on research [2]. Europe aces the challenge o

competing, while balancing the budget and marshalling the eorts o

27 Member States.

Introduction Societal Grand Challenges

Road Transport Issues

Road transport industries account or 11% o Europes GDP, and ace rising pressure rom developing economies. Building competitiveness

through the virtuous triangle o research, education and innovation is essential to secure wealth generation and employment.

Road transport industries provide a spectrum o employment, rom high value engineering and technology, to semi-skilled manuacture and

construction. Maintaining this balance supports balanced employment and wealth in society as a whole.

Road transport in Europe consumes 33% o imported ossil uels (oil and gas) and accounts or 17% o manmade greenhouse gases. Reduction

in energy use, and transition to more sustainable energy chains, are vital to achieving both security and environmental objectives.

Signifcant progress has been made in improving air quality and reducing noise emissions rom vehicles, but ri sing trac volumes and desire

or higher standards creates an ongoing need or cleaner, quieter transport.

Road trac accidents are responsible or 35,000 atalities every year. Technological solutions and improved human and behavioural under-

standing can reduce this fgure toward the ultimate vision o zero atalities and seriously injured road users.

Congestion is an issue where historic change has oten been in the wrong direction. Delays and uncertainty over travel times have an

estimated cost o around 1% o Europes GDP.

Road transport, by private or public vehicle, is essential or a cohesive European society. Rising cost, driven by meeting other challenges, must

not be allowed to deny access to mobility to the less wealthy.

Road Transport and Societal Grand Challenges

2 3


4/13

The EAGAR project ound that most major economies spent more

on automotive research than one would expect rom the sectors

contribution to GDP, almost certainly as a result o the sectors

importance to the Societal Grand Challenges. The EC is no exception,

lying in line with the US, China and individual EU economies such as

Germany.

The EAGAR projectIn 2008, EARPA initiated the EC co-unded project European

Assessment o Global Publicly Funded Automotive Research Targets

and Approaches(EAGAR, [3]), with the objectives o developing a

robust methodology or the global analysis o unding structures,

visions, research targets and programmes, and benchmarking public

automotive research activities at international level. This program has

developed many recommendations, with these being seen as key:

Public investment in automotive research and technology develop-

ment (RTD) should be strongly competitive with other majoreconomies

Public investment in automotive RTD appears to be most ecient

and easy to access when directed through ewer organisations, or

ideally one organisation

A regular consultation process that includes all stakeholders should

be established to defne RTD programmes

Targets or Europes competitiveness should be established that

are understandable, measurable and supported by dedicated RTD

programmes

Research agencies should be aware o, and endeavour to apply,

best practices rom the European and global arena, especially

unding structures and execution processes

Online inormation about research programmes and supported

projects improves the automotive RTD unding process at all levels

and encourages more international collaboration

Research Agenda Evolution or Revolution?Road transport technology has historically ollowed an evolutionary

path, with many small steps combining to achieve signifcant and

remarkable progress in reliability, saety, comort, perormance

and environmental impact. In 2003, EARPA published the results o

the FURORE technology roadmap [4], which concluded that this

evolutionary approach, promoted to a ast trackpace by strategically

ocused research, would be well placed to meet the challenges o 2020

and beyond. By 2004, the European Road Transport Advisory Council

(ERTRAC) brought together stakeholders rom all aspects o roadtransport (including EARPA) to deliver a Strategic Research Agenda

that reached a similar conclusion o ocused ast-track evolution [5].

The past decade has brought about as much change in technological

drivers as it has in global economics. Rising energy prices and

environmental pressures, and the relentless advance o electronics,

computing and IT system perormance, create an environment or

paradigm shits in road transport technology. Yet underlying those

shits there will remain a strong desire to maintain the evolutionary

approach (albeit at an even aster pace), driven by sunk costs and

the risks inherent in totally revolutionary mass-market change. It is

essential that uture strategy or European road transport research

balances these actors careully, mixing ast evolution o the mass

market with the creation o more revolutionary niches.

In 2010, ERTRAC has published a new Strategic Research Agenda

[6], which was developed with input rom a broad, balanced cross-section o stakeholders and lays out a ramework or uture change,

to be taken into account in setting FP8 transport research priorities.

As beore, EARPA members have made a signifcant contribution to

this SRA, and its guiding objectives are considered to be realistic and

well aligned to EARPAs technical visions, which are discussed in the

ollowing sections.

European Research in a Global Context

EAGAR European Assessment of Global PubliclyFunded Automotive Research

EAGAR is a FP7 project studying the

competitiveness o European research at

international level, in terms o strategies,

priorities and budgets. The project

completes in 2010, and will deliver:

Overviews o Member State road transport visions, roadmaps and

programs

Comparison with research priorities in North America, Japan, Korea,

China and India

Discussion o areas o strength and weakness, and recommendations

or improving international co-operation and competitiveness

Inormation is available at www.eagar.eu

ImportanceofautomotiveRTD

(TotalautomotiveRTD/Totalnationa

lRTD)

Importance of the automotive industry (Automotive Turnover / GDP)

0%16%14%12%10%8%6%4%2%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

NL 22

CN 213

SI 25

CA 19

BE 11

AT 40

US 1658

KR 38UK 58

FR 278

EU 340

CZ 5

SE 303

JP 77

DE 514

IN 123

PL 3

Overview of global publicly funded automotive

research (in 2007, without regional funding).

4 5


5/13

Electrication and the Plugged-in vehicleEARPAs Task Forces on Hybrid and Electric vehicles, systems and

components have produced a paper describing their current

status and uture technology needs [8], using the input rom the

Electrifcation o Road Transport roadmap (ERTRAC, EPoSS and

SmartGrids, [9]). Electricity is entering the vehicle in two orms.

In the Hybrid Electric vehicle, it is used as a temporary energy

store, capturing otherwise wasted braking energy and re-using it

in a variety o ways, rom powering ancillaries and re-starting the

engine, to ull electric propulsion or a limited range but in thesevehicles, a conventional uel is the prime source o power, via a

combustion engine. A frst generation o European Hybrid vehicles

is now entering the market, but there remains signifcant scope or

research into uture generations o Hybrid that exploit better the

synergy o reversible electric energy storage with re-confgured

internal combustion engines. More extreme engine down-sizing (in

which the hybrid system mitigates poor turbocharger response),

and greater exploitation o ecient, clean combustion modes, will

be key technologies. Increasingly, these will be geared to the use o

bio-uels; on the side o the hybrid system itsel, lower cost through

modularisation, integration and technology advances (including non-

electric hybrids) will be key enablers.

In the plugged-in vehicle, Electricity becomes a uelin its own right.

As with Hybrids, there is a spectrum o technologies, rom plug-in

Hybrids with a slightly larger battery and onboard charger that have

perhaps just 20km urban-use electric range, to ull electric vehicles

with no other power source and much more range. In contrast to

the Hybrid, there is not yet a proven frst generation o technology,although this situation is expected to change over the 2010-2015

period. There are three key actors which must be addressed: The

cost o electrical systems, especially the battery; mitigation o range

anxiety through better energy storage and more ecient use o

stored energy, accurate prediction o range, and auxiliary power

(range-extending engines); and development o a more extensive re-

charging inrastructure, embracing more charging points, then ast

charging and intelligent grid integration that can manage charging

power ow as part o a smart system.

Hydrogen as a complementary choice?Like Electricity, Hydrogen is a uel that can produce no emissions at

the point o use (by using it in a uel cell). EARPA members took a

lead role in the recently published Roads2HyCom study [10], which

examined technical and socio-economic issues related to the uptake

o Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technologies in the broader context o a

sustainable energy economy. Currently considered less ashionable

than Electricity as an energy vector, Hydrogen oers greater operating

range and aster reuelling. The Fuel Cell is an ecient device to turn

Hydrogen to motive power, and the study ound that it could beapproaching technical maturity and market uptake, though non-

road applications such as goods handling, power and heat-power

generation are lead markets in terms o known product volume.

Early road transport markets are likely to be delivery vehicles and

buses, whose operating range requirement is beyond that oered

by a battery, but where civic incentives or zero emission, low noise

and sustainable uelling create conditions or uptake. In the longer

term, the Hydrogen / Fuel Cell pairing has a good synergy with

vehicle electrifcation, and could provide range- extending capability

to Electric vehicles, using a smaller network o Hydrogen stations

concentrated around trunk routes. Key technical enablers or this are

cheaper Hydrogen storage, productionisation o rugged automotive

Fuel Cells, and the development o an inrastructure to supply

aordable, sustainably produced uel which itsel needs to be linked

to broader energy policy [10].

Powering Road Transport

The transormation to a global sustainable economy will be the

greatest act o technological and socio-economic engineering ever

undertaken, and thereore constitutes the developed worlds greatest

Grand Challenge. It will require unprecedented levels o international

collaboration; orward planning and investment well beyond the

horizons o normal commercial enterprise; and sustained, ocused

research and technology development (RTD) eort to advance

the capabilities o todays sustainable energy technologies to the

point where they are compatible with commercialisation in a uture

global market. The issue is particularly acute or transport, becausethe energy storage density and low cost o todays liquid ossil uel

solutions are so hard to match with sustainable technologies.

The broad long-term policy o Europe, and many o the worlds

other major economic powers, is or a sustainable or zero carbon

energy supply based on energy distribution in the orm o Electricity,

Hydrogen and Biouels. The European Commissions Strategic Energy

Technology plan [7] calls or cost-competitive second generation

biouels, uel cell / hydrogen technologies, and low carbon electricity

distributed over smart grids, to provide transport energy; and

reinorces the need or breakthroughs in nano-, bio-, and inormation

technologies as enablers.

The clear view o EARPA members is that the uture transport energy

landscape will be more complex, with no single solution able to

emerge as an universal winnerin the way that liquid ossil uels have

over the last century. Over the past decade, Hydrogen, Biouels, andnow Electricity, have enjoyed ashionability; the reality is a uture

embracing all three in appropriate applications, alongside ossil uels

which could still provide a signifcant (25-50%) share o road transport

energy in the period 2030-2050 [6]. Looking towards 2050, it is most

likely that electricity and hydrogen will fnd most avour in passenger

cars and light goods vehicles and buses, while biouels may provide a

non-ossil solution or long-haul trucks.

EARPAs view of technological boundar y conditionsfor market implementation of Hybrid and Electricvehicles [8]

Availability o low cost, sae, high-perorming key electric components

and associated industrial capabilities

Cost competitiveness to conventional power-trains (including energy

storage)

Ecient, integrated development tools to reduce costs and time-to-

market

Compatibility o Hybrid systems with uture CO2-neutral uels and

their engines

Modularisation and standardisation o k ey components, or compat-

ibility and reduced cost, on a supranational basis

Highly accurate range prediction or electric vehicles based on

advanced navigation systems

Education and training to develop or improve specifc hybrid / electri-

fcation skills

6 7


6/13

A new generation of BiofuelsBiouels will play a signifcant role in the transition to sustainable

transport. In the recent past, the key issue has been that frst

generation biouels have used ood crops and energy-intensive

production processes, meaning that their greenhouse gas

perormance and land-use eciency have been questioned, and their

uptake has been linked to increases in ood prices. However, a second

generation, based on specifc energy crops, residues and other

wastes, or use o organisms such as algae, oers substantially better

perormance with ar less negative social impact [11]. Furthermore, icorrectly ormulated they can be back-substituted into the existing

vehicle parc. The consequence o this is that medium term impact

can be large: The new ERTRAC SRA [6] states an objective that 25%

o the road vehicle energy pool will be Biouel by 2030 in practise

it may be that this penetration can be applied as blended uel to the

entire in-use vehicle parc, enabling second generation uels (with an

average 67% well-to-wheel greenhouse gas beneft over ossil uels)

to deliver an overall reduction in road transport CO2 o 16%. The same

EARPAs position on Biofuels

Biouels with good environmental and social credentials will play a

major role in de-carbonising road transport, because they are highly

compatible with incumbent IC engine technology, and can be applied

to the whole eet, not just new vehicles

Robust, standardised methods are required to establish the lie-cycle

environmental credentials o biouel production processes

Further research is needed to develop second generation production

processes to the point o large scale commercial maturity; a pipelineo innovative processes should be established

The optimisation o engine technologies to match the properties o

these new uels requires ongoing research, embracing sensing, smart

adaptation and new combustion / ater-treatment processes

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell research

Roads2HyComs research priorities [10]

Cost-eective, low-carbon or renewable Hydrogen

production

Low cost, energy dense Hydrogen storage in vehicle

Realisation o Fuel Cell production processes

Fuel Cell durability and impurity tolerance Thriting o precious metals and other system cost reductions

Maintenance and Diagnostics or H2/FC systems

Standardisation and development o standards

Identifcation and support o technologies or early markets

Roads2HyCom was a project under the sixth ramework program,

delivered by a team including seven EARPA members


document indicates a 5% substitution o ossil uel by Electricity in the

same timerame (which, since it can only be applied to new vehicles,

requires 10-15% o new vehicles to be electric). I these EVs have

around hal the well-to-wheel carbon ootprint o a contemporary

liquid uelled hybrid vehicle [12], their contribution to overall road

transport CO2 reduction is circa 3% - or one-fth o the contribution

o Biouels unless substantial increases in carbon-ree electricity

generation can improve the beneft. Although the balance could shit

in avour o Electricity and Hydrogen in later years, Biouels and the

internal combustion engines that use them remain vital topics orresearch over the coming decade.

Biouels will also become sought-ater energy vectors or the air,

marine, and non-electrifed rail sectors, as onboard storage o

Hydrogen or electricity is likely to remain ineasible here. Linking the

strategic visions o these sectors in terms o their demand or Biouel

or biomass is thereore vital, and an action o this type needs to be

undertaken at least at European level.

8 9


7/13


The continuing importance of Internal CombustionFinally, it is important to understand the continuing role o the Internal

Combustion Engine (ICE). In the heavy duty sector, requirements o

load actor and range mean that the ICE, albeit in improved orm and

using more sustainable Biouels, could remain the long term solution.

In all applications, new control technologies (taking inormation

rom inside the engine and rom navigation / routing systems)

have the potential to address local environmental issues through

clean operating modes. And as described above, the combination

o hybridisation, advanced ICE, advanced control system and moresustainable liquid uel will set increasingly high standards or the

alternatives [12]. Even in the light duty sector, it is e xpected that over

80% o vehicles will use an ICE in 2030 [6]. Many o these may have

plug-in electric capability or shorter journeys, but o course longer

journeys consume more energy as a result o their greater distance

and speed. Thereore research into improving the ICE (and its control

system), in all applications, remains important alongside research into

the alternatives.

The eciency o the ICE is limited by the Second Law o Thermo-

dynamics, which links it to the temperature o combustion. This in

turn is limited by the ormation o harmul NOxemissions at higher

temperatures, creating a theoretical eciency limit o around 70-

75%. For comparison, the best contemporary prototype heavy duty

engines with exhaust heat recovery are achieving up to 55% eciency,

but only at an optimum operating condition. In practise, most

engines operate at below hal the theoretical optimum eciency.

It is this defcit that the research agenda must address. In the heavy

duty sector, steady state eciency is key, and technologies such asreduced riction, high eciency combustion and ater-treatment,

tailored uels, and the recovery o waste heat must be developed as

a priority. Light duty engines are more transient in their operation,

and will beneft rom these technologies plus the optimisation o the

warm-up process, urther down-sizing, and matching to new hybrid

and range-extender applications.

Why the Internal Combustion Engine has animportant role in the future

The combination o ICE and liquid uel oers low system cost, good

driving range, easy re-uelling and consistent eciency over a wide

range o real world conditions

The ICE can be made more ecient through technologies like down-

sizing, hybridisation, and exhaust energy recovery

In the heavy duty sector, the challenges o storing sucient electricity

or Hydrogen or a viable long-haul truck unit, mean that the ICE islikely to remain the only easible solution or several decades

Improvements in eciency, combined with increasing use o

Biouels, means that an ICE powered vehicle can have competitive

environmental credentials to the alternatives on a real world, well to

wheel basis

10 11

Alternative Propulsion Glossary

There are numerous terms used in alternative propulsion, here are the

key technologies

Hybrid Vehicle A vehicle with two sources o propulsion. One o these

usually captures energy when the vehicle slows down. Most common is

the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)

Mild Hybrid A hybrid where the second source o propulsion playsonly a small role (such as helping with acceleration) and cannot power

the vehicle alone

Full Hybrid A hybrid where the second source o propulsion can

operate alone usually an electric dri ve mode

Plug-in Hybrid A Full Hybrid with extended battery capacity and re-

charging ability a ull charge typically gives 10 - 20km range

Electric Vehicle (EV) A vehicle powered only by electricity, re-uelled

by re-charging or battery swap. Range typically 50 - 200km

Range-extended Electric Vehicle (REEV or EREV) An EV carrying a

second power source, such as an engine or uel cell, to provide extra

range and easy re-uelling once the battery is depleted. Unlike a plug-in

hybrid, the auxiliary power unit (APU) has no mechanical drive to the

wheels

Fuel Cell A device that turns a uel (usually Hydrogen) into electricity which in turn can be used to drive a vehicle

First generation Biofuel A liquid or gaseous uel made rom human or

animal ood crops (sugar/starch or oil-bearing), and wastes (vegetable

oil)

Second generation Biofuel A liquid or gaseous uel made rom bio

sources with low environmental and social impact - typically non ood

crops, crop wastes, wood residue, other wastes, and algae


8/13

A vision for SafetyEARPA members have developed vision or uture saety and

mobility [13, 15], which are articulated in the long-term objective o

realising both Vision Zero and Ecient Mobility or all sections o the

population. Committing to the Vision Zero concept means striving

or a road transport system in which no-one is killed or severely

injured anymore, and that human lie is the paramount concern.

However, mobility should still be ecient, which implies ast, reliable,

convenient and aordable transport o persons and goods with

minimum environmental impact. This is in line with the EuropeanTransport Saety Councils call or simultaneous mobility and saety

becoming a undamental right o every EU citizen [14].

Realising this vision will require an integrated approach, embracing

inrastructure, vehicle and user. This must be reected by the

characteristics o the uture road transport system. An intelligent,

robust inrastructure, must be designed to provide or the needs

o dierent kinds o road users, both in terms o physical hardware

and enabling electronic systems. New vehicle types will be required,

combining lightweight structural designs that are compatible with

other vehicles and vulnerable road users in the event o accidents,

with suitable intelligence to use sensor and communications

inormation to enable accident avoidance and mitigation in a way

that users fnd intuitive; ultimately this capability will pave the way

or autonomous driving, which will be able to oer the user increased

saety and the opportunity to spend wasted driving time on other

things. Finally, Vision Zero and Ecient Mobility will only become a

reality i this concept o the uture road transport system is supported

by appropriate user behaviour, not just in terms o sae and legaldriving but also acceptance o new technologies, including trac

management, travel inormation and co-modality m ixing transport

modes (car, bus, train) with the assistance o an intelligent system.

Although there have been major improvements in road saety

in recent years, European atality statistics still indicate that the

European Commissions target o halving atalities rom 2000 to 2010

will not been met. In the developing world, with poorer standards

o inrastructure, regulation and vehicle, the situation is ar worse.

Progress in the reduction o road atalities achieved so ar is to a large

extent due to intensive research eorts by the European automotive

industry and its partners, encouraged by initiatives such as the

European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro-NCAP). This has

put the European industry in a leading global position, which needsto be maintained as a competitive advantage. At the same time, the

growing interest in a new generation o green, sub-compact cars, the

introduction o alternatively powered vehicles and the electrifcation

o drive trains in particular will pose new challenges to road saety.

Smart solutions are necessary to enable road transport with reduced

carbon ootprint and improved saety.

All over Europe, the trend towards urbanisation is expected to

continue, with the proportion o the European population living in

urban areas predicted to increase rom 72% in 2007 to 84% in 2050

[15]. Accordingly, urban mobility is o growing concern to citizens

and authorities, because cities and urban areas need ecient

transport systems to support their economy and the welare o

their inhabitants. Today, urban areas ace the challenge o making

transport sustainable both in environmental (CO2, air pollution, noise)

and mobility / competiveness (congestion) terms while at the same

time addressing social concerns. Increased trac in urban areas has

led to chronic congestion all over Europe with nearly 100 billion Euros

(1% o Europes GDP) being lost every year as a result [15]. Urbantrac accounts or 40% o CO2 emissions and 70% o other pollutants

arising rom road transport [15]. In addition, other societal trends such

as the ageing population and shits in liestyles need to be addressed

in uture passenger and goods transport solutions.

An Intelligent, Safer and Greener Future for Mobility

EARPA research priorities for Safety- Vision Zero + Ecient Mobility [13]

Intelligent Systems: Integrated Sensing, Vehicle Dynamics, Driver

Monitoring

Vehicle-to-X communication and Integrated Trac Applications

Advanced Controls as Evolutionary Step towards Autonomous Driving

Saety and Crashworthiness: Electrifed Vehicles, Batteries, Design or

Downsizing, Active Structures & Smart Materials

Humans: Protection o Vulnerable Road Users; Adaptation to dierentUser Groups

Tools: Virtual Testing and Simulation or Integrated Saety Systems;

Field Operational Tests; Active Human Models & Advanced Dummies;

HMI Assessment Methods

12 13


9/13


EARPA research priorities for Noise [17]

New noise and vibration reduction technologies or propulsion

systems and vehicles with low CO 2 emission, considering light-weight

design, smart systems and novel acoustic materials

Research in the specifc noise, vibration and harshness (NVH)

behaviour o electrifed vehicles particularly or urban transport

Specifc research in tyre-road noise with ocus on electric vehicles,

heavy duty vehicles and urban transport

Further advancing and extending o simulation tools and modelsor improved concept modelling and or higher prediction accuracy

o noise and vibration generated by conventional, hybrid and ully

electrifed road transport

Mobility for AllRealising a vision or Ecient Mobility requires attention to more

than just the hard technologieso the vehicle and its inrastructure.

For example urban planning, pricing policies, saety control,

environmental impact, economic assessments, maintenance o

accurate data and statistics, policy measures, trac management

and organisation are all becoming more and more relevant. And

with pressure on land use, maximising the use o existing road

inrastructure is an important over-arching need.

EARPA has created a new horizontal Task Force on urban mobility,

dealing with technical and non-technical issues related to the

demand and implementation side o technology in urban mobility,

which has identifed our areas o priority or action [15]. Electric

Mobility (including not just the vehicle and re-charging hardware, but

also the mechanisms o regulation, transaction processing etc., as well

as gaining public acceptance) is potentially a game-changing trend,

requiring both technology issues (as described previously) and the

business-model (new models or accessing and paying or transport)

to be addressed. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is a broad topic

covering the technologies o communication between vehicles

and inrastructure, how the inormation is used on-vehicle and in

managing trac, and defning how new services may be oered to

road users, rom simple provision o inormation, to enablement o

uture semi-autonomous driving unctions like platooning. Taking

the ITS principle urther, Co-modality (linking road transport to

other modes in more seamless ways) has ultimate potential to bring

about shits in the eciency o multi-mode reight and the uptake

o public transport. Finally, it is also important to understand theimpact o new technologies on the environment and quality o lie -

meaning a holistic study o acceptance issues and the complex shits

in behaviour that may result.

14 15

As well as addressing a major challenge, this intelligent uture or

mobility also creates some new ones. An intelligent transport system

must be robust to a long transition period where new, intelligent

vehicles mix with older, non-equipped ones, meaning that the new

technologies have to operate saely in all circumstances. This is a

signifcant, but not insoluble, challenge or semi-autonomous driving

systems such as accident avoidance and platooning. There are also

commercial challenges, with new stakeholders rom other domains

(ICT, service providers, energy companies) becoming part o the

transport business model. However, this particular challenge is alsoan opportunity or stimulating paradigm shit in technologies or the

public and political opinion.

A Cleaner, Quieter EuropeO course even a sae and ecient road transport system brings other

issues which impact upon local quality o lie. While there have been

major improvements in urban air quality thanks to the regulation

o exhaust emissions, it remains desirable to do more while

electrifcation removes the pollution problem rom the locality o the

roads, it places it into the feld o power generation; and in sectors such

as inter-city mobility and heavy trucks where it is least applicable, the

advanced combustion-engine technologies discussed in the previous

section must be clean as well as carbon/energy ecient.

Noise rom road transport is a challenge with two acets. First, new

technologies bring new challenges to noise inside the vehicle

or example, the conict between weight reduction and acoustic

refnement, or the saety issues arising rom the new relationship

between perceived noise and speed seen in an electric vehicle.Second, growing trac volumes mean that environmental noise is a

growing concern. Usually it is the presence o noise that is an issue,

adversely aecting working and living environments (according

to the communication Greening Transport [16], 32% o the EUs

population is adversely aected by noise pollution); however with

electric vehicles the absence o exterior noise at low speeds is also an

issue aecting the saety o pedestrians and cyclists.


10/13


Enabling TechnologiesFinally, there are two key enabling topics which EARPA consider

important. Materials technology is at the heart o many o these

challenges, enabling light, crash-sae and sound-absorbing structures

or vehicle and road inrastructure alike. It is also at the heart o the

energy challenge (providing technologies or alternative energy

storage such as batteries, and or lighter vehicles requiring less

energy in both construction and use) and the implementation o

intelligent transport (in particular, realisation o lower cost sensors).

In some cases, major mineral resources or supply chains lie outside

the EU, creating increased economic exposure, and a need to fnd

alternatives based on more local or abundant resources magnetic

materials, essential or vehicle electrifcation, being a major e xample.

It is thereore important that that materials research is supported,

rom the development o new generic technology in the science base,

through to application-ocussed research or road transport.

EARPA research priorities for Materials [18]

Tailored design o materials and material systems meeting the

requirements o road transport

Implementation o those materials and material system in road

transport related applications

Production and manuacturing o those materials and components

made rom them

Lie-cycle including recycling o those materials and components

Virtual Engineering: Key topics for Modelling& Simulation research [19]

Energy Conversion simulation o vehicle energy balances (power,

waste heat, energy losses), ICE combustion and exhaust catalysis;

modelling o electric vehicle systems, motors (electromagnetics) and

batteries (electrochemistry)

Structure & Saety Crash perormance o lightweight structures;

robustness and virtual testing o active saety systems

Noise transmission Structure-borne and air-borne noise permeation,

with a ocus on emerging technologies

Over the last twenty years, the use o virtual engineering has become

more widespread, with benefts to the speed o product development

and the qualities o the product. With the technology challenges o

sae, sustainable transport ahead and the competitive nature o the

market, design engineers ace the complex problem o meeting ever

expanding but oten conicting design criteria. The state o the art

in modelling and simulation tools, and associated computing power,

is now advancing to the point where competitive advantage can

be gained rom virtual processes that ow seamlessly rom concept

selection, through detail engineering, to implementation o robust

model-based electronic controllers. These tools will combine system-

level models, which characterise whole systems such as a vehicle via

models o its major components, and multi-dimensional tools, which

use increasingly sophisticated mathematical techniques to model

critical parts in great detail. Validation rom frst principles o the

physics captured in these tools is necessary to ensure that they can be

relied upon in a commercial engineering environment.

16 17


11/13

Conclusion a European Research Area for Road Transport

It is clear that road transport research will have a major role to play in

meeting Societal Grand Challenges, whether they relate to security o

energy supply, creation o a sae and clean environment, provision o

aordable mobility, or economic competitiveness in global markets.

It is also clear that state aid to research and technology development

is a reality across the globe [3]. Thereore it is essential that Europes

research program, including the orthcoming FP8, is globally

competitive in terms o ocus, unding and e xibility.

With the Commissions own Framework Program amounting only toaround 20% o the total public research expenditure in the EU-27

[3], it is impossible to cover every aspect o road transport research

comprehensively. The question then becomes this: should there be

broad coverage o many topics with limited budgets, or more in-depth

coverage o a ew areas o ocus? The EAGAR project [3] ound that the

dierent sources o research unding available in Europe could each

be better suited to dierent stages o technology maturity but the

relationship depends on what is limiting the market uptake. In the case

o a technologically limited item (such as the creation o a new battery

cell chemistry with greater energy density and lower cost), bringing

together basic researchers rom across Europe to pool knowledge and

make breakthroughs, may be the best use o the highly integrated

Framework unds, whereas operating eets o vehicles with the

resulting new battery requires little trans-national cohesion and may

be conducted entirely in the h ands o a commercial manuacturer. In

The pressing needs o the environment, society and global com-

petitiveness mean that a paradigm shit is required in the delivery o

new technology solutions, rom concept to widespread implementa-

tion. Research lies at the heart o this process; the delivery o timely,

implementation-ready research outputs is key to the paradigm shit.

For best eect the European Research Area requires Focus, meaning

strengthened coordination between the Framework programme and

National (member state) agendas (EARPA welcomes the initiatives un-

derway to encourage such coordination in the uture), and more e-

ective mechanisms or learning rom research to be ed back into Pol-icy. It also requires adequate

Funding, meaning that the

importance o Road Transport

technologies must be recog-

nised on an enduring basis

and at a level appropriate to

its economic, societal and

environmental importance.

Finally, Flexibility must be

shown in the way the delivery

process is structured, meaning

that processes or setting re-

search agendas, creating pro-

posals and delivering research

are continually streamlined,

adopting the very best prac-

tises rom around the world.

The ecient delivery o research requires the engagement o theright mix o stakeholders, rom academia through to manuacturers

and end users o goods or services. Within this mix, an important role

is played by Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs), including

national laboratories and independent commercial providers o

technical services. A recent survey by EARTO [20] ound that RTOs

constituted 28% o the participation in the Framework Six program,

and received 32% o the unds.

In the Road Transport sector, EARPA members perorm valuable and

innovative services to other stakeholders. Contract engineering or

manuacturers and suppliers is the mainstay o some EARPA members

business, providing a range o services rom specialist engineering

(or example, developing an engine to an emissions standard or a

vehicle body to a crash saety standard) to whole program delivery

(engineering a product rom clean sheet design to in-production

issue resolution). Others perorm valuable services to Government,

including the provision o recommendations or regulations and

standards, and support to policymaking.

This spectrum o involvement with the road transport sector placesEARPA members in a unique position, able to oer expertise derived

rom their ront-line relationship with automotive products, and

independence rom direct vested interest in manuacture. It is hoped

that the EARPA vision presented here is a useul viewpoint on uture

research programmes such as FP8. It is also hoped that EARPA,

working together with stakeholders in the sector through the ERTRAC

technology platorm, can use this position to continue supporting the

success o Europe in using research and technology to meet Societal

Grand Challenges.

FocusFunding

Flexibility

EARPAs Three Fs for public investment in RTD Focus, Funding, Flexibility

Focus: Framework programs need to

concentrate on topics that beneft most

rom trans-European cohesion; better

coordination with National research

agendas can ensure that other important topics are supported there

Funding: Quantity o unds and grant intensity needs to be

internationally competitive, encouraging global organisations to seeEurope as a natural home or their RTD activity

Flexibility: Programs that are responsive to stakeholder needs, with

ast, simplifed proposal and program management processes, can

deliver economic benefts most quickly

Internaonal

EU Framework/ JTI

JointProgramming

Naonal RTD

Co-operaton

levelforRTD

Technology Maturity

Fundamental RTD Applied RTD Pre-compeveDevelopment

Demonstraon &Commercialisaon

Migraon pathfor a technologylimited byfundamental science

Migraon path

for a technologylimited by infrastructureor standards

What type of research to support? Science-limited

technology development tends to require the most

international co-operation in achieving the required

fundamental breakthrough; more application-focussed

RTD may be more limited by Infrastructural or Standards

issues, requiring the most international co-operation at the

commercialisation stage.

contrast, developing standards and protocols or smart ast charging

o the same battery, requires the greatest international cohesion at the

demonstration and rollout stage because this activity is essentially

limited more by logistics (setting common standards and developing

inrastructures) than by the technology itsel. Understanding this

dierence is vital to the process o priority setting in European-level

research.

18 19

Automove & Road TransportIndustry Associaons

(ACEA, EUCAR, CONCAWE,CLEPA)

European CommisionDG Environment,DG Transp. & Env.

Member StateGovernments

and their Agencies

Fuel/Energy Suppliers

Vehicle Manufacturers

Automove Suppliers

Technology Plaorms& JTIs

(ERTRAC, BIOFRAC, NEW,ARTEMIS, ENIAC

Government

Industry

EARPAs neutral but involved position amongst many stakeholders.


12/13

References and EARPA Position Papers

1. The Lund Declaration, Europe must ocus on the Grand Challenges o our time, 2009

2. AAAS, U.S. Leads World in R&D Perormance, Gap Narrows, retrieved rom Guide to R&D Funding Data, 2008

3. EAGAR (European Assessment o Global Publicly Funded Automotive Research, 2010), Benchmarking Analysis Report, 2010

4. FURORE, Future Road Vehicle Research: R&D Technology Roadmap, 2003, ISBN 3-200-00017-1

5. ERTRAC, Strategic Research Agenda 2004, 2004

6. ERTRAC, Strategic Research Agenda 2010, 2010

7. European Commission, A European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) - Towards a low carbon uture, 2007

8. EARPA, Position Paper on Hybrid Electric vehicle components & systems - Importance or European road transport research and FP7, 2010

9. ERTRAC, EPoSS and SmartGrids, European Roadmap on Electrifcation o Road Transport, 2009

10. Roads2HyCom project, Fuel Cells and Hydrogen in a Sustainable Energy Economy, fnal report, 2010

11. JRC-EUCAR-CONCAWE, Well-to-Wheels study

12. Nick Owen and Neville Jackson, A new look at the Low Carbon Roadmap, Institution o Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) conerence, 2009;

ISBN 1 84334 560 9

13. EARPA, Position Paper on Further Advances in Automotive Saety, importance or European road transport research, Update, 2009

14. European Transport Saety Council, Road Saety as a right and responsibility or all, 2008

15. EARPA, Position Paper on Urban Mobility, 2010

16. European Commission, Sta Working Document on Greening Transport, 2008

17. EARPA, Position Paper on Noise, vibration & harshness, Importance or European road transport research and FP7, 2009

18. EARPA, Position Paper on Materials, design and production systems, Importance or European road transport research and FP7, 2008

19. EARPA, Position Paper on the key role o Modelling & Simulation or R&D on road transport, 2010

20. EARTO, Research and Technology organisations in the evolving European research area - a status report with policy recommendations, 2010

20

ISBN Number 978-90-815906-3-1

November 2010


13/13

EARPA

European Automotive Research Partners Association aisbl

36-38 Rue Joseph II

B-1000 Brussels

Belgium

www.earpa.eu

earpa position paper 2010

Documents