Innovative Techniques for Decreasing Advanced Vehicle Auxiliary Loads

At the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), one of the goals of the Center for Transportation Technologies and Systems is to develop innovative techniques for reducing automobile fuel usage and tailpipe emissions by decreasing the auxiliary loads on the propulsion system of advanced vehicles. The power required to cool the passenger compartment can significantly reduce the range of an electric vehicle (EV) and the fuel economy of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). We are investigating several ways to decrease auxiliary loads.