Ricardo Strategic Consulting says it has been selected by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to monitor, collect, and analyze the data for heavy-duty vehicle projects funded under Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) and the low-carbon transportation Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
According to the company, AQIP and GGRF are initiatives of CARB and have seen significant investments since their inception in fiscal year 2014-15. A wide range of advanced technology demonstration projects have been carried out under these initiatives, all aimed at helping to pull forward zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) technology in the commercial vehicle and bus transportation sectors.
CARB has awarded a contract to Ricardo to quantify the emission-reduction benefits and performance of the advanced technologies vehicles, compared to current conventionally fueled vehicles. Ricardo will also assess the economic viability and commercialization readiness of the advanced zero-emission technologies for wider adoption within the industry. The work will include the monitoring and analysis of over 140 advanced vehicles. Some of these will be based on battery electric powertrains, while others will feature technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells, compressed natural gas (CNG) range extenders, diesel plug-in hybrids, and cooperative-intelligent transportation systems across truck, bus and off-road applications.
To support the initiative, Ricardo says it will utilize both its proprietary total cost of ownership and quantitative adoption rate models to assess the competitive positioning of the technologies and the key steps toward their large-scale commercialization.
“Data-driven assessment is essential to the accurate evaluation of performance, economic viability, commercial readiness and emissions-reduction benefits of advanced new technologies,” comments Piyush Bubna, program manager for the project at Ricardo Strategic Consulting. “It also allows an assessment of how these technologies can gain wider adoption across several commercial transportation applications. The project will help California to identify the need for future investments and help guide future policy for advanced technology zero- and near zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles.”