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This study provides an up-to-date expert assessment and comparison between the life cycle’s carbon footprint of battery electric and internal combustion engine passenger cars. It presents evidence from the literature and from life cycle assessment modelling and concludes with policy recommendations. The analysis includes sensitivities, regional variations for six Member States, and also the effects of technical and legislative development on the potential outlook up to 2050.

The European Automotive Research Partners Association (EARPA) brings together the most prominent independent European R&D providers in the automotive sector. EARPA helps enable organisations to actively contribute to the European Research Area and the future EU research and technological development funding programmes. 

EARPA currently has 61 members ranging from large and small commercial organisations to national institutes and universities. EARPA is independent from any external body or institute and is only funded by its members’ fees and is governed by an Executive Board and a General Assembly. We work close cooperation with the automotive industry, the automotive suppliers, as well as the European Institutions and the EU Member States.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of European research and innovation in support of zero-emission heavy-duty road transport. The report analyses 153 projects, 151 of them funded under FP7, Horizon 2020, and Horizon Europe, and two from the European Investment Bank. The analysed projects cover a wide range of topics from battery chemistry to deployment and operations of the zero-emission vehicles. The report showcases the significant advancements in developing and demonstrating the technologies, standards, and best practices, and identifies the challenges and opportunities for future research and innovation. The report contributes thus to European transport and research and innovation policy discussions on zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles and infrastructure development

Because of the importance of the role of Road Transport in Europe, an accelerated development of sustainable, integrated transport solutions is necessary. The mission of ERTRAC is to provide a framework to focus the coordinated efforts of public and private resources on the necessary research activities.

Gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors can improve the power converters used in electric vehicles. These devices offer significant advantages due to their ability to operate at high switching frequencies while maintaining high efficiency. This paper presents a comprehensive comparison of modulation techniques for hybrid T-type converters that use SiC and GaN semiconductors. The analysis compares modified sinusoidal pulse-width modulation (M-SPWM), double-signal pulse-width modulation (DSPWM), and carrier-based pulse-width modulation (CB-PWM) techniques in terms of efficiency and DC bus balancing capabilities. The study examines the normalized voltage ripple and losses on the DC bus utilizing MATLAB/Simulink and PLECS. The simulation results indicate that DSPWM and CB-PWM hold promise as viable alternatives to the traditional M-SPWM technique for electric mobility applications, particularly when the power converter operates at high switching frequencies.

This document provides a comprehensive report on the activities related to the experimental validation of lab-scale power converter prototypes. It includes an analysis of the current standards for power converter testing, drawing on publicly available sources and the expertise of RHODaS partners.

The document also proposes a detailed test plan for High Power Converters (HPC), which are based on Low Power Converter modules. This plan encompasses electrical tests for both Low Voltage (LV) and High Voltage (HV) parts, as well as environmental, mechanical, and safety tests. Additionally, the document reports on laboratory tests to verify basic parameters of Low Power Converters (LPC), such as efficiency, distortion, and Common Mode Voltage (CMV).

The analysis highlights the absence of comprehensive standards for inverter testing, necessitating the search for relevant documents from various testing fields. Due to the high voltage levels considered in the DC/AC converter, of at least 1000 VDC Bus, it is necessary the adaptation of research methodologies in cases where direct references are lacking. This process requires substantial knowledge and experience in test systems and application of standards.

The conclusions drawn from these activities are expected to support future design, optimization and recommendations, focusing on further improvements in power converters and the use of standards specifically adapted for them in automotive applications.

Permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) are still the first choice for use in electric vehicles, due to their unparalleledefficiency and power density. However, they suffer from an inherently limited speed range. As field weakening or the addition of amechanical gearbox deteriorates the efficiency of the drive, it is suggested in this paper to equip the drive with reconfigurationswitches, giving rise to a so-called e-gear. The switches—which are implemented by means of mechanical relays—allow to change the winding connection of the electric machine from a series to a parallel connection and hence to double its efficient speed range.Simulations and experimental results on a 4-kW axial-flux PMSM confirm the feasibility of the concept and prove that the reconfiguration can be conducted in less than 35 ms.

This paper presents a fast and accurate state-space model for synchronous machines taking into consideration the machine geometry, material non-linearities and core losses. The model is first constructed by storing the solutions of multiple static finite element (FE) simulations into lookup-tables (LUTs) to express the stator flux linkages as functions of the state variables, i.e., the winding currents and the rotor position. Different approaches are discussed to include the core loss into the model. A novel approach is presented for constructing a pre-computed LUT for the core loss as a function of the state variables and their time derivatives so that the loss can be directly interpolated when time-stepping the state-space model. The Simulink implementation of the proposed core-loss model shows a good match with time-stepping FE results with a 120-fold speedup in computation. In addition, comparison against calorimetric loss measurements for a 150-kVA machine operating under both sinusoidal and pulse-width modulated voltage supplies is presented to validate the model accuracy.

This document describes fault-tolerant control strategies for the SiC/GaN power converter and the eMotor of the RHODaS integrated motor drive (IMD). It outlines control levels within the proposed IMD, details fast response strategies for critical faults managed by the power converter control and defines fault-tolerant control to be implemented by cloud/edge computing for the IMD. The document also addresses potential faults in the power converter and electric motor, discussing feasible fault detection strategies.

The 'fit for 55' package is a set of legislative proposals introduced by the European Union in July and December 2021 to achieve the European Climate Law objectives of climate neutrality by 2050 and a 55% reduction in net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. It includes 13 interlinked proposals to revise existing EU climate and energy laws and six new legislative proposals. The package covers various sectors, including transport, energy, and land use, and aims to accelerate emissions reductions through measures such as the EU emissions trading system (ETS), the Effort-sharing Regulation, and the Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) sector. Key initiatives include stricter CO2 emission standards for new cars, the inclusion of maritime and road transport in the EU ETS, and the promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency.