Analysis of Hybrid Electric Vehicle Performance - an HEV Test in the Urban Area

The hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is one of the solutions for reducing fuel consumption and hence cutting global warming pollution, since hybrid systems have been successfully applied in passenger cars and SUVs. For government agencies in Taiwan to open the market for HEV purchases and to make policies, the HEV's real ability to reduce fuel consumption in Taiwan's urban area needs to be evaluated. This paper discusses an HEV test project which was performed in an Asian urban area, Taipei city and county. Two HEVs - one Toyota Prius and one Ford Escape Hybrid were tested in the urban area by four different groups of drivers for two months. A data logging system was also installed on the HEV to record vehicle information during the driving. Results of the fleet test were also compared to the results performed by AVTA for HEV fuel economy in the urban area. Analysis showed that full HEVs did have high fuel economy in this Asian urban area.