ASSESSMENT OF FUEL ECONOMY TECHNOLOGIES FOR LIGHT-DUTY VEHICLES
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract No. DTNH22-07-H-00155 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Transportation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agency that provided support for the project.
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COMMITTEE ON THE ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING LIGHT-DUTY VEHICLE FUEL ECONOMY
THOMAS W. ASMUS,
NAE, DaimlerChrysler Corporation (retired), Oakland, Michigan
RODICA BARANESCU, NAE, NAVISTAR,
Warrenville, Illinois
JAY BARON,
Center for Automotive Research, Ann Arbor, Michigan
DAVID FRIEDMAN,
Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, D.C.
DAVID GREENE,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
LINOS JACOVIDES,
NAE, Delphi Research Laboratory (retired), Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
JOHN H. JOHNSON,
Michigan Technological University, Houghton
JOHN G. KASSAKIAN,
NAE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
ROGER B. KRIEGER,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
GARY W. ROGERS, FEV,
Inc., Auburn Hills, Michigan
ROBERT F. SAWYER,
NAE, University of California, Berkeley
Staff
K. JOHN HOLMES, Study Director
ALAN CRANE, Senior Program Officer
LaNITA JONES, Administrative Coordinator
MADELINE WOODRUFF, Senior Program Officer
E. JONATHAN YANGER, Senior Project Assistant
JAMES J. ZUCCHETTO, Director,
Board on Energy and Environmental Systems
BOARD ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
ANDREW BROWN, JR., Chair,
NAE,1 Delphi Corporation, Troy, Michigan
RAKESH AGRAWAL,
NAE, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
WILLIAM BANHOLZER,
NAE, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan
MARILYN BROWN,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
MICHAEL CORRADINI,
NAE, University of Wisconsin-Madison
PAUL DeCOTIS,
Long Island Power Authority, Albany, New York
CHRISTINE EHLIG-ECONOMIDES,
NAE, Texas A&M University, College Station
WILLIAM FRIEND,
NAE, Bechtel Group, Inc., McLean, Virginia
SHERRI GOODMAN,
CNA, Alexandria, Virginia
NARAIN HINGORANI,
NAE,
Independent Consultant,
Los Altos Hills, California
ROBERT HUGGETT, Independent Consultant,
Seaford, Virginia
DEBBIE NIEMEIER,
University of California, Davis
DANIEL NOCERA,
NAS,2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
MICHAEL OPPENHEIMER,
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
DAN REICHER,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
BERNARD ROBERTSON,
NAE, DaimlerChrysler (retired), Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
ALISON SILVERSTEIN, Consultant,
Pflugerville, Texas
MARK THIEMENS,
NAS, University of California, San Diego
RICHARD WHITE,
Oppenheimer & Company, New York City
Staff
JAMES ZUCCHETTO, Director
DANA CAINES, Financial Associate
ALAN CRANE, Senior Program Officer
JONNA HAMILTON, Program Officer
K. JOHN HOLMES, Senior Program Officer and Associate Board Director
LaNITA JONES, Administrative Coordinator
ALICE WILLIAMS, Senior Program Assistant
MADELINE WOODRUFF, Senior Program Officer
JONATHAN YANGER, Senior Program Assistant
Acknowledgments
As a result of the considerable time and effort contributed by the members of the Committee on the Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy, whose biographies are presented in Appendix A, this report identifies and estimates the effectiveness of technologies for improving fuel economy in light-duty vehicles, and the related costs. The committee’s statement of task (Appendix B) clearly presented substantial challenges, which the committee confronted with fair and honest discussion supported with data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the DOT-Volpe Research Laboratory. I appreciate the members’ efforts, especially those who chaired the subgroups and led the compilation of the various chapters.
The data and conclusions presented in the report have benefited from a substantial amount of information provided by global automobile manufacturers, suppliers, and others in the regulatory communities and in non-governmental organizations. Appendix C lists the presentations provided to the committee. Members of the committee also visited industry organizations in North America, Europe, and Japan. In addition, the National Research Council contracted with outside organizations to develop and evaluate a number of technological opportunities.
The committee greatly appreciates and thanks the dedicated and committed staff of the National Research Council (NRC), and specifically the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) under the direction of James Zucchetto (director of BEES). The committee particularly wishes to recognize the outstanding leadership of K. John Holmes, study director, and his staff. Thanks and recognition are due to the following BEES staff: Alan Crane, senior program officer; Madeline Woodruff, senior program officer; LaNita Jones, administrative coordinator; Jonathan Yanger, senior program assistant; and Aaron Greco, Mirzayan Policy Fellow, as well as consultants K.G. Duleep of Energy and Environmental Analysis, Inc.; Ricardo, Inc.; and IBIS, Inc. The committee also thanks Christopher Baillie, FEV, Inc., an unpaid consultant to the committee, for his many efforts, dedication, and hard work.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the Report Review Committee of the NRC. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Tom Austin, Sierra Research Corporation,
Paul Blumberg, Consultant,
Andrew Brown, Delphi Corporation,
Wynn Bussmann, DaimlerChrysler Corporation (retired),
Laurence Caretto, California State University,
Coralie Cooper, NESCAUM,
James Fay, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Larry Howell, Consultant,
David Japikse, Concepts NREC,
Orron Kee, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (retired),
Steven Plotkin, Argonne National Laboratory,
Priyaranjan Prasad, Prasad Consulting, and
Lee Schipper, Berkeley Transportation Center.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor
did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Elisabeth M. Drake, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (retired), and Dale Stein, Michigan Technological University (retired). Appointed by the NRC, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Trevor O. Jones, Chair
Committee on the Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy