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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1978

User experience with on-road electric vehicles in the U.S.A. and Canada

Approximately 3000 on-road electric passenger cars and delivery vans are now in use in the U.S.A. and Canada. The owners and operators of almost one-third of these vehicles have been surveyed directly in an attempt to determine the suitability of commercially sold electric vehicles for real on-road jobs. This paper is primarily concerned with the analysis of the engineering aspects of the user experience with electric vehicles, i.e., mileage and application, failure modes and rates, energy economy, maintenance requirements, life cycle costs, and vehicle performance characteristics. It is concluded that existing electric vehicles can perform satisfactorily in applications that have limited performance requirements, particularly in terms of range.

Sandberg, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS2023

Mobile Observations of Ozone and Aerosols in Alabama: Southeastern US Summer Pollution and Coastal Variability

We present a detailed analysis of measurements of ozone (O 3 ) and aerosols collected using multiple platforms and instruments during a 5-day mini-campaign in Alabama, for improving our understanding of the chemistry and air quality in the Southeastern United States. Our study features the first on-road O 3 lidar profiling on highways and the coordinated airborne observations that captured O 3 and aerosol structures associated with synoptic weather conditions, stratospheric intrusions, wildfire smoke transport, and enhancements in urban areas. The Doppler wind lidar data suggest that the vertical structures and variability of O 3 and aerosols at Dauphin Island, a coastal site in the Gulf of Mexico, were related to both the synoptic flow and local-scale land-sea breeze circulation. The onshore gulf breeze, which typically started in the afternoon, helped to quickly dilute air pollutants near the surface, resulting in large gradients toward inland areas. In contrast, gradients were much smaller on days without a gulf breeze. O 3 and humidity were highly anti-correlated in the lower free troposphere, but weakly anti-correlated in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) suggesting more complicated emissions and sink of O 3 in the PBL. Our on-road and airborne measurement strategies to quantify the vertical and horizontal chemical gradients will be useful for future geostationary satellite validation.

Shi Kuang↗
NASA NTRS1981

Evaluation of the micro-carburetor

A prototype sonic, variable-venturi automotive carburetor was evaluated for its effects on vehicle performance, fuel economy, and exhaust emissions. A 350 CID Chevrolet Impala vehicle was tested on a chassis dynamometer over the 1975 Federal Test Procedure, urban driving cycle. The Micro-carburetor was tested and compared with stock and modified-stock engine configurations. Subsequently, the test vehicle's performance characteristics were examined with the stock carburetor and again with the Micro-carburetor in a series of on-road driveability tests. The test engine was then removed from the vehicle and installed on an engine dynamometer. Engine tests were conducted to compare the fuel economy, thermal efficiency, and cylinder-to-cylinder mixture distribution of the Micro-carburetor to that of the stock configuration. Test results show increases in thermal efficiency and improvements in fuel economy at all test conditions. Improve fuel/air mixture preparation is implied from the information presented. Further improvements in fuel economy and exhaust emissions are possible through a detailed recalibration of the Micro-carburetor.

Weiss, M. F.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Climate, Health, Agricultural and Economic Impacts of Tighter Vehicle-Emission Standards

Non-CO2 air pollutants from motor vehicles have traditionally been controlled to protect air quality and health, but also affect climate. We use global composition climate modelling to examine the integrated impacts of adopting stringent European on-road vehicle-emission standards for these pollutants in 2015 in many developing countries. Relative to no extra controls, the tight standards lead to annual benefits in 2030 and beyond of 120,000-280,000 avoided premature air pollution-related deaths, 6.1-19.7 million metric tons of avoided ozone-related yield losses of major food crops, $US0.6-2.4 trillion avoided health damage and $US1.1-4.3 billion avoided agricultural damage, and mitigation of 0.20 (+0.14/-0.17) C of Northern Hemisphere extratropical warming during 2040-2070. Tighter vehicle-emission standards are thus extremely likely to mitigate short-term climate change in most cases, in addition to providing large improvements in human health and food security. These standards will not reduce CO2 emissions, however, which is required to mitigate long-term climate change.

Shindell, Drew↗