Third installment on Canadian research into EV battery durability.

The current draft GTR on motorcycle evaporative emissions includes seven options for the test fuel; however, the list does not include the fuel specified under US and Canadian requirements. Therefore, the US and Canada request the addition of a new option corresponding to the fuel specifications laid out in the United States Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 1051, section 501 (40 CFR 1051.501).

Revised presentation on a research project intended primarily to evaluate regenerative braking energy and CO2 emission differences between a 2-wheel dynamometer, a 4-wheel dynamometer and empirically determined rear-axle braking forces applied the same test conditions on a 2-wheel dynamometer. The expectation is that the two-wheel dyno tests will produce the highest regenerative braking energy and lowest CO2 emissions since it places 100% of the braking load on the rear axle.

5. Mr. Couroux reviewed document EVE-07-17e covering Agenda item 2 with a focus on action items. Mr. Couroux detailed which action items were completed or ongoing, including:

• EVE-7 Action 1, completed: Participants will continue to be invited to present on EV related topics and standardization at EVE IWG meetings.
• EVE-7 Action 2, completed: The EVE Secretariat continues to coordinate input to the VPSD document from EVE IWG membership. More specifically, the Secretariat will request an update on status of next draft of VPSD and the Chair will share the next version of the EV Reference Guide to seek further input from VPSD.
  • The Chair of the VPSD provided input prior to the 8th EVE meeting on how the Guide should include EV-related definitions being developed by the VPSD working group, and draft 3 of the Guide will be revised accordingly.
• EVE-7 Action 3, completed: The EVE Secretariat informed EVE of upcoming EV2013 meeting in Ottawa and for which data will be made available as soon as possible.
  • An email containing this information was sent by the EVE Secretariat to the EVE group on January 2nd, 2014.
• EVE-7 Action 4, completed: Mr. Olechiw has provided updates on the contracting process for Reference Guide drafting. Mr. Olechiw confirmed the consultant retained by the US EPA (FEV consulting) will continue to assist in the drafting of the Guide until the 9th EVE meeting.
• EVE-7 Action 5, completed: The EVE Secretariat will continue to follow-up with Mr. Wiaux concerning cold temperature data and will report back to EVE membership once it is available.
  • Mr. Couroux has contacted Mr. Wiaux for data and will report back to the EVE group once the data is available.
• EVE-7 Action 6, completed: The EVE Secretariat will update Section 5 (draft 1 of Guide) to reflect comments and circulate to EVE membership for review by October 31st, 2013.
• EVE-7 Action 7, completed: In parallel to Action 6, contracting parties will provide further input to Section 3 (draft 1 of Guide) to the EVE Secretariat by October 31st, 2013.
• EVE-7 Action 8, completed: Contracting parties will review and submit comments to Section 5 to Secretariat one week after it is distributed as per item 1) above (~November 7).
• EVE-7 Action 9, completed: The EVE Secretariat will develop new draft of the Guide (draft 2) and circulate to EVE membership one week after receiving comments on section 5 (~November 14).
  • Draft 2 of the Guide was circulated to the EVE group for comment on December 6th, 2013. Comments from various contracting parties, industry, and other GRPE working groups were received and integrated into the Guide to produce draft 3 (EVE-08-03).
• EVE-7 Action 10, completed: Mr. Olechiw will seek guidance from the GRPE Chair on obtaining input from WLTP IWG on EV Reference Guide and particularly on recommendations included in Section 5.
  • There is a meeting directly after the 8th EVE meeting between the EVE leadership and WLTP secretary, EV sub-group, WLTP sponsors (European Commission and Japan) and OICA to discuss how the EVE and WLTP can work together in the future on EV-related issues.
• EVE-7 Action 11, completed: The EVE Secretariat will distribute an invitation and the revised agenda ahead of the EVE-08 meeting.
  • The revised and final Agenda for the 8th EVE meeting is document EVE-08-02-Rev2.
• EVE-7 Action 12, completed: Once finalized, the EVE Secretariat will distribute an invitation noting the location and timing of the EVE-09 meeting to the EVE group. The agenda for the meeting will be circulated by the EVE Secretariat after being finalized at the EVE-08 meeting.
  • The EVE-09 meeting invitation is document EVE-09-01 and the draft agenda for the EVE-09 meeting is document EVE-08-04.

The objective of the 8th EVE meeting will be to discuss the second draft of the EVE Reference Guide, which will also be submitted as an informal document for the 68th GRPE Session. This will include discussion of the Guide recommendations and future work for the EVE informal working group, including potential mandate extension and coordination with the WLTP informal working group.

Response to the survey developed by the informal group on environmental aspects of electric vehicles.

The Secretary presented documents EVE-05-03e and EVE-05-04e displaying the most recent proposed Reference Guide Outline and Questionnaire. The Secretary thanked all Contracting Parties and industry for the overwhelming responses to the questionnaire. In total, completed questionnaires were submitted by 9 contracting parties/industry.

The Secretary reviewed the most recent draft of the Reference Guide Outline (EVE-05-03e), pointing to changes that were made in responses to previous comments (see responses to action items under Item 2). Mr. Johan Renders requested clarification on the development of a gtr; the secretary responded that according to the Terms of Reference the development of a gtr by EVE IWG would require the EVE IWG to seek a new mandate from AC.3. Mr. William Coleman also suggested the attributes for infrastructure could be better handled under EVS while noting the importance of ensuring that it was covered in either IWG. A discussion led by Mr. Johan Renders also followed on the attributes that did not exactly fit the mandate of WP.29. The Secretary confirmed these attributes were covered in Terms of Reference and also reminded participants of decision to include these attributes in an appendix. The participants agreed.

ACTION 3: Participants were invited to submit any further comments to the Reference Guide Outline to the Secretary prior to the next meeting of EVE IWG planned for June 3rd during the 66th session of GRPE.

The discussion on the Reference Guide Outline was followed by presentations by Contracting Parties on their completed questionnaire. Ms. Chunmei Chen (China), Mr. Stéphane Couroux (Canada), Mr. Nobutoshi Horie (Japan) and Mr. Michael Olechiw (U.S.) presented documents EVE-05-11e, EVE-05-07e, EVE-05-09e and EVE-05-12e, respectively. A number of technical questions followed each of the presentation. Mr. Stéphane Couroux confirmed the financial allocation for electrified vehicles ranged depending on the type of vehicle (from hybrid to full electric having higher incentive). It was also confirmed that labelling was a voluntary agreement in Canada, whereas it was a regulatory requirement in the U.S. Mr. Nobutoshi Horie confirmed that Japan would need further consideration before adopting WLTP, and that it would not be earlier than 2016. Mr. Michael Olechiw confirmed equivalents units of energy were used for label for EVs, but not for diesel. Mr. Michael Olechiw also confirmed that PHEV vehicles were required to run full cycle charge sustaining at best effort.

ACTION 4: Mr. Michael Olechiw to provide further clarification on utility factors for California in response to a question by Mr. Kazuyuki Narusawa.

Mr. Ed Pike, a consultant from Energy Solutions hired by Canada to support the development of the Reference Guide, subsequently presented document EVE-05-05e. The presentation summarized input from contracting parties and also served to highlight requirements that are different in one or more countries. The presentation also sought input from participants on attributes that could merit further analysis to inform the development of recommendations for the Reference Guide and/or eventually the development of future gtr. While it is recognized that a number of gtr are under development, and with more or less consideration for EVs, participants were asked if there is need to conduct limited research or recommend further research under the Reference Guide for one or more attributes that can affect EVs differently from conventional vehicles. For examples, participants were asked whether heating or A/C were believed to have a significant effect on EVs efficiency and range determination as indicated by certain data; and are thermal stand-by battery thermal management losses significant, does battery state of charge affect battery efficiency, etc.? Participants were also asked if there was interest in further researching information on charging infrastructure, battery recycling or incentives. Similarly, it was also asked if greater efforts should be made to collect information on motorcycles, medium- or heavy-duty vehicles.

The presentation was followed by substantial technical discussions on a number of the above listed topics. While there were no recommendations or agreements to further research any given topics, all participants agreed that it would be important to prioritize activities. Mr. Johan Renders indicated that all participants are working in an environment with budgetary constraints, and would then expect results of the meetings. Mr. Michael Olechiw reminded participants that only task for this group is to determine if one or more of the discussed topics is important enough to warrant a recommendation for further research or recommendation in the Reference Guide. If we do not know, we need to conduct minimum research or testing prior to finalizing the Reference Guide.

ACTION 5: The Secretary will invite the chairs of other IWGs to participate in a discussion on priorities for EVE and the next meeting scheduled for June 3rd during GRPE 66th session in Geneva.

ACTION 6: Mr. Stéphane Couroux will inquire on available EV test data in Canada.

Presentation on Environment Canada and US EPA joint program.

Joint EC/EPA presentation

Mr. Giallonardo presented working paper HDH-11-08. He indicated that the program was focused on Post-TM testing. Several months of trials and high hybrid manufacturer involvement were needed for being able to run the tests. The complete set-up basically represents a chassis dyno test operated a powerpack test. It was only used for a relative comparison between hybrid and non-hybrid vehicles. It was concluded and confirmed by EPA that chassis dyno testing and powerpack testing compare pretty well for CO₂, but differences were observed for criteria pollutants, especially NO_x.

Invitation to register for the Heavy Duty Hybrids emissions test procedure informal working group session scheduled for 10-12 October in Ottawa, Canada.

Canadian environmental policies and initiatives related to electric vehicles.

Mr. Alson presented on behalf of the U.S.A. and California (EVE-02-19e), Ms. Chen on behalf of China (EVE-02-16e), Mr. Horie on behalf of Japan (EVE-02-17e), Mr. Choi on behalf of Korea (EVE-02-15e), and Mr. Couroux on behalf of Canada (EVE-02-13e).

Highlights of interesting discussion points following the presentations:

• - Canada’s alignment with the USA on light and heavy duty vehicle GHG emission standards.
• - EV penetration under the US CAFE/GHG LDV rule for 2025, estimated to be approximately 3%.
• - EV labelling.