Alexandria Engineering Journal (2017) 56, 721–726

H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Study of emissions and fuel economy for parallel

hybrid versus conventional vehicles on real world
and standard driving cycles
Ahmed Al-Samari

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Alumni, West Virginia University, 26505, USA
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering (PhD), University of Diyala, Baquba, Diyala Province, Iraq

Received 13 September 2016; revised 28 February 2017; accepted 23 April 2017

Available online 20 May 2017

KEYWORDS Abstract Parallel hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) increasing rapidly in the automobile markets.
Emissions; However, the benefits out of using this kind of vehicles are still concerned a lot of costumers. This
Hybrid electric vehicles; work investigated the expected benefits (such as decreasing emissions and increasing fuel economy)
Fuel economy; from using the parallel HEV in comparison to the conventional vehicle model of the real-world and
Real-world driving cycle standard driving cycles. The software Autonomie used in this study to simulate the parallel HEV
and conventional models on these driving cycles.
The results show that the fuel economy (FE) can be improved significantly up to 68% on real-
world driving cycle, which is represented mostly city activities. However, the FE improvement
was limited (10%) on the highway driving cycle, and this is expected since the using of brake system
was infrequent. Moreover, the emissions from parallel HEV decreased about 40% on the real-world
driving cycle, and decreased 11% on the highway driving cycle. Finally, the engine efficiency,
improved about 12% on the real-world driving cycle, and about 7% on highway driving cycle.
Ó 2017 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction namic resistance, downsizing the engine, etc. however, each of

these suggested approaches has advantages and disadvantages
Vehicles’ emissions represent the main source of our era’s pol- may constrain it. The hybrid electric vehicles are not new [1–4],
lutions. Moreover, fuel economy improvement represents a big but the advanced technology used in it is new. Therefore, the
challenge to sustain the limited fossil fuel resources as long as number of HEVs increased rapidly in automobile markets
possible. Therefore, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) may give a [5]. There are a lot of studies regarding expected benefits out
very promising potential solution for fuel economy improve- of using HEVs [6,7]. However, most of these studies considered
ment. Improve vehicles’ fuel economy, such as down weighting standard driving cycles or real world driving cycles that valid
the automobile, reducing rolling resistance, reducing aerody- in their country’s traffic conditions. Previous studies proved
that the benefits out from using HEVs are depending on the
E-mail address: drahmedshihab14@gmai.com applications and terrains (i.e. flat, hill or mountain terrains)
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria and it could be 1% on the highway up to 50% in city driving
University. activities [8]. Moreover, all of these studies were performed on
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2017.04.010
1110-0168 Ó 2017 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
722 A. Al-Samari

standard or real-world driving cycles for cities in different major demand to consider any simulation software. All of
countries [5,9]. these conditions satisfied by the simulation program Autono-
This study aims to investigate the potential benefits by mie (authorized to Ahmed Al-Samari at West Virginia univer-
using parallel HEVs on real-world driving cycle (the case study sity, USA) [10]. This software has a great capability to simulate
of Iraq and standard driving cycles) in comparison to conven- vehicles, including all real live conditions such as a driver,
tional vehicle models. The real-world driving cycle used for weather conditions, accessories load, road pattern, vehicle
this study represents mostly city activities. The software used activity (driving cycle), and engine capability [2]. Also, Auton-
to accomplish this simulation is Autonomie [10] (authorized omie can evaluate fuel economy, emissions, and all equipment
to Ahmed Al-Samari at West Virginia University, USA). performance. In the meanwhile, it can assess the accuracy of
Moreover, this software represents one of the most accurate the results. Fig. 1 shows the parallel hybrid electric vehicle
new simulation programs in this field [11]. model configuration. The initial values and assumption listed
in the Table 1. The simulation processes for a conventional
2. Parallel hybrid electric vehicle vehicle configuration are based on the driver demand, and then
the engine provides the chemical energy needed (from the fuel).
The main three Types of HEVs are parallel, series and power This energy provides to the power train to meet that demand.
split HEVs. Moreover, there are several types under each of The equation that used to calculate the instantaneous power
these categories. Parallel hybrid electric vehicles which are con- demand for the power train based on the deriver demand is
sidered in this study has many advantages, For example rela- known as road load equation [11].
tively lower cost, higher total power (since it can use both
 
electric motor and ICE at the same time if needed) and also 1
Pt ¼ ma þ Cd qAv þ lmg þ mg sinðhÞ v
2
it can work as a conventional vehicle [12,13]. This type of 2
HEVs can work as conventional or can use the electric motor
to assist the main power source, which is the internal combus-
tion engine (ICE). Moreover, the parallel HEVs still able to where m is mass of the vehicle (kg), v is speed of the vehicle
catch the free energy using the brake system, which is the main, (m/s) assuming no wind, A is frontal area of the vehicle
advantage of all HEVs types. The control system of parallel (m2), g is acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/s2), Cd is aerody-
HEVs has the capability to manage the engine on/off status namic drag coefficient, l is tire rolling resistance coefficient, q
depending on the energy demand, energy storage (battery
pack) and traffic conditions. The parallel HEVs can be divided
into three main types micro, mild and full hybrid based on the Table 1 The equipment initials values for parallel HEV and
hybridization equipment (battery pack and electric motor/gen- conventional vehicle model.
erator) sizes [3,14,15]. The parallel HEVs can improve fuel Explanation Conventional Parallel
economy up to 40% in comparison to conventional vehicle vehicle HEV
model [5]. However, this improvement depends on the terrain Engine type Si Si
types (like ascending and descending hills), traffic conditions ICE engine power, kW 110 110
and vehicle activities (i.e. on a highway or in a city). It is Electric motor generator peak – 50
known by default for all kinds of HEVs that the more you power, kW
use brake system the more fuel economy improve can get [9]. Electric motor generator continuous – 25
power, kW
3. Modelling of conventional and parallel hybrid electric vehicles Transmission type 5 speed 5 speed
Final drive ratio 2.563 2.563
Total Vehicle mass, kg 1126 1161
Simulation of any vehicle model on different driving cycles Fuel heating value (kJ) 42,800 42,800
represents a very big challenge because of the dynamic interac- Fuel density (kg/m3) 0.742 0.742
tion between the components of the system. The crucial factor Vehicle frontal area (m2) 2.25 2.25
to specify the best method of simulation any system is the Vehicle drag coefficient (Cd) 0.3 0.3
accuracy and repeatability of results. Moreover, the validation Tire rolling resistance (m) 0.008 0.008
of results in comparison to experimental results represents the

Fig. 1 Schematic configuration for parallel HEV.

Study of emissions and fuel economy for parallel hybrid versus conventional vehicles 723

is air density, and sin(H) is road gradient (radiant). Pt is the
total power needed at the wheels and is stated in Watts (W).
The only power source for a conventional vehicle is the IC
engine, but the parallel HEV has auxiliary power source which
is electric motor. This feature give a flexibility for the engine
controller unit (ECU) to manage between the chemical and
electrical power source based on different factors, which are
vehicle activities, availability of electric power and terrain
types.
with 6.9 mile trip and the simulation was able to finish the trip
(6.9 mile), that means the power train succeeded to track the
driver demand and accomplish mission successfully. On the
other hand, if the model couldn’t finish the driving cycle (i.e.
couldn’t meet the driver demand) then the result won’t be per-
fect and the program will give you the percentage of driving
cycle accomplished, so you can ignore these results.
6. Results and discussions

4. Real world and standard driving cycles
Several standard and real world driving cycles used to evaluate
emissions and fuel economy for parallel HEVs versus conven-
tional vehicles models. The standard driving cycles used in this
study were for city and highway activities (UDDS, FTP and
US06HWY). Moreover, the real-world driving cycle was rep-
resenting vehicle activity in Baqubah city, Iraq. Baqubah driv-
ing cycle was generated from gathering a lot of driving data
and processing these data based on the frequency of them as
explained in details in previous accepted paper for publication
[16]. In addition, one day activity (Tuesday) driving data was
used to study the emissions and fuel economy. In other words,
Baqubah and Tuesday driving cycles represent the real world
driving cycle in this study. Table 2 briefs the most important
parameters of the standard and real world driving cycles. Basi-
cally the real world driving cycle could be considered as
extreme city activities.
5. Autonomie software and the results validations
The software Autonomie had been validated and approved for
too many times [11]. The published paper showed that the
accuracy of Autonomie model in comparison to experimental
results may reach up to 99% [17]. Also, several vehicles man-
ufacturer companies such as Ford, General Motor and about
780 more considered this software as an authentic vehicles
model simulation tools to analyze emissions, fuel economy
and equipment sizing [10]. Furthermore, Autonomie software
itself can check the validation of the results for each single sim-
ulation. For example, if a vehicle model runs a driving cycle
Fig. 2 shows the fuel economy for the parallel HEV in compar-
ison to conventional vehicle on the real world and standard
driving cycles. Furthermore, the fuel economy improvement
was significant (up to 68%) on real world driving cycle, which
is representing mostly city activities, and standard city applica-
tion driving cycles. The reason for this enormous fuel economy
improvement is the number of using brake system or decelera-
tion which represent the main source for free energy to cap-
ture. Moreover, the idle time percentage was relatively big in
city activity Table 2. However, the fuel economy improvement
on high way application was limited and that pretty much
expected since the main advantage of HEVs is capturing the
free energy due to using brake system instead of losing it as
heat. In other words, using brake system by driver would be
much less frequently relatively to vehicle in the city activities.
Fig. 3 shows the CO2 emissions response because of the vehicle
hybridization and emissions decreased significantly (about
40%) on city activities applications and that because of turning
engine off at idling and using electric energy source (electric
vehicle mode) frequently instead of the engine’s energy. How-
ever, the benefits were limited on the highway applications
since, the limited time for vehicle to be idle and less using of
electric vehicle mode. In highway activity the IC engine energy
is more economic than using electric energy source.
Figs. 4–7 show the engine running zone and engine effi-
ciency improvement. The other advantage of vehicle hybridiza-
tion (extra power source) is giving flexibility for the ECU to
select better running condition for the ICE. It is well known
that the engine efficiency can be 0% up to the maximum
(about 37%) for this engine, and this range depend on the
engine load and number of engine revolutions. Therefore the

Table 2 Real world and standard driving cycle’s parameters.

Real-world Standard
Baqubah Tuesday UDDS FTP US06HWY
Duration (Sec) 1052 6181 1369 2476 367
Distance (km) 6.3 43.8 11.99 17.8 9.9
Max velocity (km/h) 68 116 91.2 91.2 128.5
Average velocity (km/h) 21.6 25.5 31.5 25.8 97.3
Maximum acceleration (m/sec2) 3.3 3.8 1.6 1.6 3.1
Maximum deceleration (m/s2) 4.1 3.7 1.6 1.6 2.8
Average acceleration (m/sec2) 0.23 0.22 0.20 0.15 0.15
Acceleration (%) 50.3 47.5 44.9 33.7 50.7
Average deceleration (m/sec2) 0.23 0.22 0.20 0.15 0.15
Deceleration (%) 48.5 45.1 40.3 30.5 47.15
Idle time (%) 25.3 25.3 24.7 42.6 2.7
Cruise time (%) 0 2.6 1.1 1.2 80.7
724 A. Al-Samari

Fig. 2 (a) Fuel economy and (b) fuel economy change for parallel in comparison to conventional vehicle models on real world and
standard driving cycles.

Fig. 3 (a) CO2 emissions and (b) CO2 emissions change for parallel in comparison to conventional vehicle models on real world and
standard driving cycles.

Fig. 4 Engine efficiency for (a) conventional vehicle and (b) parallel HEV models on Real world (Baqubah) driving cycle.
Study of emissions and fuel economy for parallel hybrid versus conventional vehicles 725

Fig. 5 Engine efficiency for (a) conventional vehicle and (b) parallel HEV models on FTP driving cycle.

Fig. 6 Engine efficiency for (a) conventional vehicle and (b) parallel HEV models on US06HWY driving cycle.

Fig. 7 (a) Engine efficiency and (b) engine efficiency change for parallel in comparison to conventional vehicle models on real world and
standard driving cycles.
726
engine efficiency improvement was about 12% on real world
driving cycle and about 30% on FTP driving cycle.
7. Conclusions
The results approved that the parallel HEVs can contribute in
improving fuel economy significantly on real world and stan-
dard driving cycle (city activities). Moreover, the emissions
decreasing were significant also in specific vehicle activities.
The fuel economy improvement for parallel HEVs was limited
on highway standard driving cycles. Furthermore, the engine
efficiency could be improved also, which may give an opportu-
nity to increase ICE life span. Therefore, these results can be
extended to other cases that have same activities as standard
driving cycles which investigated in this manuscript. Finally,
this study is recommending for more researches and assess-
ments of HEVs on real world (highway activities) driving
cycles in Iraq to give a clear understanding for HEVs expected
benefits.
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