Standard Driving Cycles Comparison (IEA) & Impacts on the Ownership Cost

A new type of approval procedure for light-duty vehicles, the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), developed by an initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, will come into force by the end of 2017. The current European type-approval procedure for energy consumption and CO₂ emissions of cars, the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), includes a number of tolerances and flexibilities that no longer accurately reflect state-of-the-art technologies. Indeed, on the basis of an analysis of real-world driving data from the German website spritmonitor.de, the ICCT concluded that the differences between official laboratory and real-world fuel consumption and CO₂ values were around 7% in 2001. This discrepancy has been increasing continuously since then to around 30% in 2013, with notable differences found between individual manufacturers and vehicle models. In anticipation of the transition from NEDC to WLTP, many research activities have been carried out to verify the capability of current and future engine/vehicle technologies to meet the new regulations on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission. The new procedure will also have consequences for the NEDC-based passenger cars’ CO₂ emission target for 2020-2021 (95 g CO₂/km), which will need to be adapted to the new testing procedure. This study compares the energy consumption benefits of various technologies for multiple drive cycles, including current and future regulatory tests in the US and Europe. This paper identifies and quantifies the impacts of the main parameters influencing the energy consumption for different time frames, vehicle classes, powertrains, and technologies. In addition, the paper estimates the cost benefit to the customer (levelized cost of driving, total present value, etc.) of each option in different areas of the world.