A model for motor gasoline demand in Canada is developed by household. The model identifies and separates effects of several responses by the household to a change in gasoline prices such as driving fewer miles, purchasing fewer cars, and buying more fuel efficient cars. It also estimates the manufacturers' response of improving the technology of new automobiles. The size and the composition of the fleet according to the interior volume of four classes of automobiles rather than their natural weight is used. Furthermore, two components of the average fuel efficiency of new cars were identified and estimated. The first is the technical fuel efficiency set by the car manufacturers and the second is the sales ratio of four classes of new automobiles. The use of household expenditure survey data make it possible to experiment with some socio-economic variables such as the percentage of households living in urban areas, number of cars per household and the number of persons in the household who can drive. The relatively new technique of cointegration is also utilized. The results indicate that there are certain advantages associated with the elaborate treatment of the stock adjustment and the fuel economy of the fleet. In general, the estimated coefficients suggest that most of the adjustment after a gasoline price increase comes from miles driven in the short run and from miles per gallon, hence fuel efficiency improvements in the long run. The model gave the total short run (one year) price elasticity of gasoline consumption between 0.312 - 0.313 for the different provinces which is relatively small range. One of the more interesting results is that approximately 10 percent of the household response to a price change in the first year was due to a change in the composition of the fleet to a more fuel efficient vehicle. Approximately 75 percent was due to driving fewer miles while the remaining 15 percent was attributed to a change in the size of the fleet. The intermediate run (five year) price elasticities range from 0.689 to 0.7 09 and the long run price elasticities (ten year) range from 0.97 5 to 1.059. The long run price elasticities exceed unity which does not lend support to the belief that long run gasoline price elasticities are also inelastic. The short term household income elasticities range from 0.301 to 0.306, the intermediate term range from 0.655 to 0.679, and the long term range from 0.868 - 0.949.

The automotive industry is required to meet improved fuel efficiency standards and stricter emission controls. Aluminum tube hydroforming is particularly well suited in meeting the goals of lighter, more fuel-efficient and less polluting cars. Its wider use in industry is hindered however by the reduced ductility and more complex constitutive behavior of aluminum in comparison to the steels that it is meant to replace. This study aims to address these issues by improving the understanding of the limitations of the process as applied to aluminum alloys. A series of hydroforming experiments were conducted in a custom testing facility, designed and constructed for the purposes of this project. At the same time, several levels of modeling of the process, of increasing complexity, were developed. A comparison of these models to the experiments revealed a serious deficiency in predicting burst, which was found experimentally to be one of the main limiting factors of the process. This discrepancy between theory and experiment was linked to the adoption of the von Mises yield function for the material at hand. This prompted a separate study, combining experiments and analysis, to calibrate alternative, non-quadratic anisotropic yield functions and assess their performance in predicting burst. The experiments involved testing tubes under combined internal pressure and axial load to failure using various proportional and non-proportional loading paths (free inflation). A number of state of the art yield functions were then implemented in numerical models of these experiments and calibrated to reproduce the induced strain paths and failure strains. The constitutive models were subsequently employed in the finite element models of the hydroforming experiments. The results demonstrate that localized wall thinning in the presence of contact, as it occurs in hydroforming as well as other sheet metal forming problems, is a fully 3D process requiring appropriate modeling with solid elements. This success also required the use of non-quadratic yield functions in the constitutive modeling, although the anisotropy present did not play as profound a role as it did in the simulation of the free inflation experiments. In addition, corresponding shell element calculations were deficient in capturing this type of localization that precipitates failure, irrespective of the sophistication of the constitutive model adopted. This finding contradicts current practice in modeling of sheet metal forming, where the thin-walled assumption is customarily adopted. / text

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The high costs and high risks of transporting fuel to combat zones make fuel conservation a dire need for the US military. A towable hybrid electric system can help relieve these issues by replacing less fuel efficient standalone diesel generators to deliver power to company encampments. Currently, standalone generators are sized to meet peak demand, even though peak demand only occurs during short intervals each day. The average daily demand is much less, meaning generators will be running inefficiently most of the day. In this thesis, a simulation is created to help determine an optimal system design given a load profile, size and weight constraints, and relocation schedule. This simulation is validated using test data from an existing system. After validation, many hybrid energy components are considered for use in the simulation. The combination of components that yields the lowest fuel consumption is used for the optimal design of the system. After determining the optimal design, a few design parameters are varied to analyze their effect on fuel consumption. The model presented in this thesis agrees with the test data to 7% of the measured fuel consumption. Sixteen system configurations are run through the simulation and their results are compared. The most fuel efficient system is the system that uses a 3.8kW diesel engine generator with a 307.2V, maximum capacity LiFeMgPO? battery pack. This system is estimated to consume 21% less fuel than a stand-alone generator, and up to 28% less when solar power is available. / Master of Science

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Jason Bergtold / Efficiency and technology are increasingly important selling points for combine harvesters. Diesel-electric hybrid drives have taken hold in the construction equipment industry, and are providing marketable efficiency benefits for some heavy equipment customers. This thesis explores the technical and economic feasibility of utilizing diesel-electric hybrid drives on AGCO combine harvesters. To determine the technical feasibility of utilizing diesel-electric hybrid drives on AGCO combine harvesters, a search was conducted for prior literature relating to the use of electric drives on other heavy, off-highway equipment. This information, coupled with data provided by experts in the field, was used to determine if electric drives could fulfill the unique requirements of combine harvesters, and be practically utilized for this application. To determine the economic feasibility of utilizing diesel-electric hybrid drives on AGCO combine harvesters, an optimization model was constructed to seek out the most economically viable configuration of electric drives for this application. The model takes in to consideration the different use-cases in which this equipment is expected to perform, as well as the component costs and operating efficiencies of both the drives in place currently and the proposed electric drives. The outcome of the model was then utilized to compare the best-case configuration to the minimum requirement for economic feasibility. The technical feasibility assessment conducted for this thesis led to the conclusion that it would be technically feasible to utilize electric drives on a combine harvester. There are commercially available electric drive components which are suitable for use in the environment that this equipment is expected to operate in, and a prototype combine harvester having electric drives has previously been constructed. The economic feasibility assessment conducted for this thesis revealed that it is not economically feasible to utilize electric drives on AGCO combine harvesters at this time. Under the current circumstances, the most economically viable configuration would take nearly twice the machine’s usable operating life to provide a benefit to a customer from fuel savings. Sensitivity analysis revealed that significant changes in the price of fuel or electric drive components would be necessary to change the outcome of this study.

The present paper describes an innovative electro-hydraulic system developed for automated side loaders. The system is based on Intelligent Flow Control (IFC), a concept where open circuit electric displacement controlled pumps are coupled with EH directional control valves. IFC was selected in order to achieve the level of performance required, in terms of efficiency and productivity (i.e. cycle times), and also to provide the best possible control of the side loader arm. The paper describes the system layout and the basics of the controls: from the alghorithms of the arm actuators to the vehicle on board telemetry and diagnostic. The paper reports the comparison between the IFC system (implemented on the vehicle) and a more traditional approach based on a Load Sense Flow Sharing concept. The benefits of the IFC solution are highlighted focusing on the energy efficiency (very important especially in the case of CNG engines, where the torque available at idle is significantly lower than diesel engines), but also in terms of controlability and response (due to the lack of load sensing signal lines).

<div>Strict emissions regulations are mandated by the environmental protection agency (EPA) to reduce emission of greenhouse gases and criteria air pollutants from diesel engines, which are widely used in commercial vehicles. A ten-fold reduction in allowable heavy-duty on-road oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions are projected to be enforced by 2024. The need to meet these emission regulations, along with consumer demand for better fuel efficiency, has resulted in greater effort towards cleaner and more efficient diesel engines.</div><div><br></div><div><div>Diesel engine aftertreatment systems are effective in reducing engine-out emissions, but only at catalyst bed temperatures above 200°C. The aftertreatment system needs to be quickly warmed up to its efficient operating temperatures, and maintain elevated temperatures in a fuel-efficient manner, which is a challenge using conventional engine strategies. This study details the use of advanced gas-exchange management, via variable valve actuation, to improve both `warm-up' and `stay-warm' aftertreatment thermal management.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>Fast initial warm-up of the aftertreatment system, following a cold engine start, is enabled by strategies such as early exhaust valve opening (EEVO), internal exhaust gas recirculation (iEGR) and late intake valve closure (LIVC). Steady state and drive cycle results of a combination of EEVO and iEGR at idle operation, and a combination of EEVO and LIVC at off-idle conditions below 7.6 bar BMEP, are presented. It is demonstrated that ~ 150°C higher steady state temperatures are achieved at idle, and up to 10.1% reduction in predicted tailpipe-out NOx is achieved at 3.1% fuel penalty over the heavy-duty federal test procedure (HD-FTP) drive cycle.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>Fuel-efficient `stay-warm' aftertreatment thermal management is demonstrated to be effectively achieved via cylinder deactivation (CDA), to reduce fuel consumption, elevate engine-outlet temperatures and reduce exhaust flow rates at idle and low load engine operation. Implementation of CDA at idle and low loads below 3 bar BMEP is demonstrated to achieve fuel savings of 4% over the HD-FTP drive cycle, while maintaining similar levels of tailpipe-out NOx emissions. It is demonstrated that lower air flow during CDA at, and near, idle operation does not compromise the transient torque/power capabilities of the engine- a key nding in enabling the practical implementation of CDA in diesel engines.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>Some of the practical challenges expected with CDA are studied in detail, and alternate strategies addressing the challenges are introduced. Dynamic cylinder activation (DCA) is introduced as a means to enable greater control over the torsional vibration characteristics of the engine, via selection of appropriate ring patterns, while maintaining similar performance and emissions as xed CDA. A generic strategy to use CDA and an appropriate DCA strategy to operate away from driveline resonant frequencies at different engine speeds is described. Ventilated cylinder cutout (VCC) is introduced as a means to potentially mitigate oil accumulation concerns during CDA, by ventilating the non-ring cylinders to the intake/exhaust manifold(s) by opening the intake/exhaust valves during all the four strokes of the engine cycle. The fuel efficiency and thermal management performance of VCC is assessed for different ventilation congurations and compared with CDA and baseline engine operation.</div></div>

Voyage planning methods have advanced significantly in recent years to take advantage of the increasingly available computing power. With the aid of detailed weather predictions it is now possible to decide a route that is optimized with respect to some criterion. With the introduction of so called All Electric Ships; ships with diesel electric propulsion, varying the power production in order to adjust the propulsion has become easier. Incorporating a power management system with the voyage planning software on a ship allows for different techniques to reduce fuel consumption. In this thesis, three different approaches are developed, compared and combined. The first method handles the task of how to optimally share a load demand across a set of generators. The second is performing power production scheduling with respect to engine efficiencies, and finally in the third the potential in energy storage integration with the power management system is investigated. From the results, it is argued that the largest potential lies in the first approach where large fuel savings can be made without any large risk. The second approach shows potential for fuel reduction but this however is found to be heavily dependent on weather predictions and accuracy of the used models. Regarding energy storage it is found that while it is not economically feasible to increase the fuel efficiency, energy storage can be used to handle load transients and fulfil power redundancy requirements.

Chapter 1. This chapter aims to find the effects of financial point of sales incentives on the sales of electric vehicles across the Canadian provinces from September 2012 to December 2016. The findings of my study indicate that purchase incentives cause the sales of new electric vehicles to increase by 8 percent on average due to a $1000 increase in incentives. I find that 47% of electric vehicle sales across the rebating provinces (Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia) are attributed to the purchase incentives. Results of my counter-factual simulations imply that the cost of eliminating one tonne of carbon emissions across the provinces that offer incentives over the years of my study is, on average, $216/tonne CO2. Chapter 2. In light of the rapid increase in Canadian gasoline prices from 2000 to 2010, this chapter focuses on the relationship between gasoline price and demand for vehicle fuel efficiency across the Canadian forward sortation areas (FSA) over this period. I find that consumers respond to variations in gasoline price when deciding the fuel efficiency of their new vehicle; increases in gasoline price result in shifts in demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles and therefore improve the average fuel efficiency of the new vehicle fleet. I find that the elasticity of fuel economy with respect to gasoline price for new vehicles sold across the Canadian forward sortation areas (FSA) from 2000 to 2010 is -0.06 to -0.16. Results of further analyses imply that consumer are more responsive to rising and constant gasoline prices than falling prices and that urban residents are slightly more responsive to variations in gasoline price compared to residents of suburb regions. Chapter 3. This chapter investigates the effect of the carbon tax policy implemented by the Canadian Province of British Columbia on households’ new vehicle purchase decisions. I dis-aggregate the effects of gasoline price into two effects: the carbon tax and carbon tax-exclusive gasoline price. These effects are both measured along the extensive margin of replacing a fuel inefficient vehicle with a fuel-efficient vehicle. The results indicate that there is a significant negative relationship between both effects and fuel efficiency substitutions. However, vehicle fuel economy is more sensitive to changes in the carbon tax than to equivalent changes in the carbon tax-exclusive gasoline price. I find that the elasticity of fleet fuel economy with respect to the carbon tax ranges from -0.22 to -0.26 whereas this elasticity changes between -0.1 and -0.15 with respect to gasoline price (net of the carbon tax). I obtain consistent results when estimating the effect of both factors on fleet fuel economy conditional on fleet composition, indicating that almost all vehicle segments respond more strongly to changes in the carbon tax component of gasoline price than other components. Results also imply that, among all segments, the fuel consumption of compact sport utility vehicles (SUVs), minivans, and luxury high-end cars respond the most to the carbon tax.

Uber and Lyft, the “unregulated taxis” that are putting traditional taxi companies out of business, are expanding quickly and changing the landscape of urban transportation as they go. This thesis analyzes the environmental impacts of Transportation Network Companies, particularly in California, with respect to travel behavior, congestion, and fuel efficiency. The analysis suggests that fuel efficient taxis are being replaced by less fuel efficient Uber and Lyft vehicles. Linear regressions were run on data from the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project’s Electric Vehicle Consumer Survey of electric vehicle owners in California. The findings indicate that Uber drivers are more reliant upon the state rebate than the general population of electric vehicle owners in California.