The EV technology demonstration platform will be developed through three key stages of work within the LCVTP.

• The first will see the vehicle converted from its respective conventional powertrain into a simple battery electric vehicle (BEV) incorporating efficiency optimized control strategies within the framework of a simple architecture based on conventional 3kW recharging rate. This basic BEV implementation is planned for completion in the spring of 2011.

• The stage two implementation, planned for completion in the summer of 2011, will incorporate location awareness and adaptive route control—building on Ricardo’s previous work in this area—along with vehicle level improvements and optimization of weight, parasitic losses and aerodynamics, demonstrating some of the achievements delivered by the work of Ricardo’s fellow LCVTP partners.

• The final stage of work on the new EV technology demonstration platform within the LCVTP will see the vehicle developed into a range-extended electric vehicle (RE-EV) architecture incorporating an advanced auxiliary power unit (a gasoline engine integrated with a generator) developed within the project, for on-board battery recharging. Scheduled for completion towards the conclusion of the LCVTP in late 2011, this revised architecture will provide the basis for ongoing development of enhanced control strategies for HVAC and other systems to further optimize comfort and energy efficiency.

Following completion of its work on the LCVTP, Ricardo will continue to evolve the EV technology demonstration platform through further technological stages to realize the breadth and depth of research and development that Ricardo is investing in within this field.

To date, most EV products and research demonstrators have focused upon urban city car segment applications in which vehicle power requirements and recharging needs can comparatively easily be addressed. For larger C-D segment vehicles issues of cost, range anxiety and real-world duty cycles requiring, for example, intermittently fast operation with frequent stopping present some potentially significant and fundamental challenges, Ricardo notes.

At the same time however, these larger vehicles represent a potentially more attractive target than city cars for reducing carbon dioxide emissions due to their typically higher fossil fuel consumption in conventional powertrain form.