The EC Co-funded FUEREX project proposes highly effi-

cient, compact, clean and low cost engines applied as

range extenders for battery electric vehicles, capable of

using renewable bio fuels as well as regular fossil fuels.

In order to facilitate the transition from conventional fuel-

driven vehicles towards electrically driven vehicles, there is

a short(er) term need for electrical vehicles with range ex-

tenders .

Development of 3 compact spark-ignition engines for

low cost Range Extender.

Development of multifuel capability and flexibility.

Vehicle integration of the range extenders in vehicles

with state of the art battery packs.

Demonstration and validation of the integrated tech-

nology at a realistic scale (3 test vehicles).

Introduction

Objectives

FUEREX Newsletter 0 1 / 0 3 / 2 0 1 3 I s s u e 3

eMobility 2013

DEMONSTRATIONS

Range

Extenders Demo Vehicles

2 Cylinder Piston Engine for Gas

Rotary Engine with Generator

3 Cylinder Piston Engine

The FUEREX project

has been made

possible by a financial

contribution by the

European Commission

under Framework

Programme 7.

Read on the next page about the out-

come of the FUEREX project. These

were presented in a special session at

the eMobility 2013 conference in

Graz.

The presentations are available on

the FUEREX project website, by fol-

lowing the links in the newsletter.

FUEREX final public documents can

be found on the website:

www.fuerex.eu

Special FUEREX session

Introduction The final workshop for the FUEREX project was organised as special session to the eMobility conference in Graz, 30 and 31 of January 2013.

Session: Range Extender Concepts for Electric Vehicles: results of the EC funded project FUEREX.

Range Extenders are additional devices that ex-tend the range of electric vehicles. They are a promising concept that helps increase the everyday usability of electric vehicles. The aim of the EC funded project FUEREX was to optimize the Range Extender concept. Quite a few of the challenges, this new tech-nology faces, were mastered.

FUEREX and the developed range Extender technologies shall be introduced in this session.

The session was chaired by Dr. Prenninger of AVL. Dr Prenninger is the deputy director of research at AVL, where he is also responsible for international research cooperation.

Dr Theodor Sams is the head of te worldwide research and development department for fuel systems at AVL List in Graz.

FUEREX focuses on the challenge of achieving high efficiency, low emissions, unwanted

accompanying noise, vehicle integration and a degree of cost effectiveness at the same time. All these goals can be achieved individually, but bringing them together in one system while keeping costs so low that range extenders are a viable solutions on the market for the consumer is a major challenge. Presentation

Technical presentations

Rickard Arvidsson is responsible for development, system architecture, strategy and conception at the Volvo Car Corporation. He attended Chlamers University of Technology where he received his Bachelor and Master degrees

in mechanical engineering. He joined Volvo in 2004.

One of the great challenges electrically powered vehicles face is their range and fear consumers have that it won’t be enough. This is the case despite the fact that most daily routes can be covered with common electrical battery power. Range Extenders can be an advantage for the entire powertrain once battery sizes are improved to everyday dimensions.

Presentation

A customized Power electronics (inverter) has been

designed and built. A complex control system, em-

bedded in the inverter electronics, has been devel-

oped in order to control the ICE (communicating

with the ICE ECU), and the electric motor depending

on the power request received form vehicle VMU.

The RE adaptation in to the vehicle required, beside

the suspension studies, the definition and layout

study for all the ICE auxiliary system like intake, ex-

haust, cooling circuit, charge air cooling system and

fuel system.

The RE has been placed in the vehicle engine bay

removing a battery pack.

RE control strategy will be able to perform three

different driving modes

1. Electric mode

2. Range extender mode

3. Hybrid charge depleting mode

During electric mode (1) RE is in stand by status

When in electric mode a low SOC threshold is

reached, system move in range extender mode (2)

with range extender ON and a required power to the

RE according system power demand and target SOC

according stable low threshold value; power request

to RE will be close to zero during braking phase or

stop phase while will be close to the maximum avail-

able during acceleration phase; the strategy allow to

increase the range according fuel energy availability

and with quite full performance for the e-drive.

According a driver demand, depending on foreseen

long mission or higher speed cycles, mode three

could be required and system move in Hybrid charge

depleting mode (3) with range extender ON and a

required power to the RE according system power

demand and smoothed charge depleting functional-

ity; power request to RE will be close to zero during

braking phase or stop phase while will be close to

the maximum available during acceleration phase;

the strategy allow to increase the range according

fuel energy availability and with full performance for

Technical presentations

Marco Cuniberti is in charge of Powertrain Mechanical Engineering at FIAT Research Center. He studied at the Polytechnic University of Turin and he is working at FIAT since 1995.

Deliveries in urban areas should be strictly low-emission operations. An electric vehicle

(an IVECO Daily electric) with the adoption of a range extender fulfills the necessary requirements. The efficiency of the FIAT 2 cyl Twinair engine combined with the ecological advantages of CNG guarantees sustainability and avoid the so called range anxiety of electrical cars improving vehicle autonomy and ensuring fast refilling. Presentation

Bernhard Sifferlinger is a project manager at AVL List GmbH Graz. He studied mechanical engineering at the TUGraz and specialized in combustion engines and vehicle development.

The great challenge for pure electrical mobility is its cost, battery weight and independend electrical range which limits

use to urban areas. Long charging times and the high cost of vehicles that are only adequate as secondary transport solutions greatly limit the acceptance of his technology. One way of increasing its appeal is the use of a range extender. It lowers costs and increases the range of the electric vehicle. Presentation

Anders Grauers is professor at the Hybrid Vehicle Center and of electric vehicle systems at Chalmers University of Technology. Before joining the faculty at Chalmers, he worked as technical specialist at the Volvo Safety department.

The idea Range Extender was researched on the basis of real data in the FUEREX

project. A method was developed that generates relatively short driving cycles yet still permitted a representative distribution of route lengths and road categories. There were used to establish the size of the battery and the range extender, which reach the highest level of efficiency. Presentation

Bernd Spielmann is a senior expert at Robert Bosch GmbH where he is responsible for electrical vehicles and hybrid technologies and leads, as project manager, the development of range extenders.

Range extenders shall be a key technology for the increase of electric vehicles acceptance in the future. The development of a stand-alone system with a few adjustable interfaces will be necessary to make the equipping of different vehicles with a range extender possible. The BOSCH design that was developed in the FUEREX project shall be a good solution to achive this. Presentation