• Energy Research

Many actions have been recently carried out within European cities with the aim of reduce the negative impacts on traffic and environment caused by transport. New technologies for vehicles and traffic management are the key to lower transport emissions and the electric approach is a promising line to achieve EU's emissions reduction target for 2030 and 2050. Electric Vehicles (EVs) include vehicles with different technologies such as Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs) or Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). BEVs operate purely on the battery power but the energy storage system remains one of the main critical elements due to vehicle autonomy, weight and charging time. FCV outperform BEV for its high autonomy and it is possible to perform a hydrogen recharge in short time but the costs remain high. Different from these last, hybrid configurations carried out through Batteries and Fuel Cell System (FCS) show advantages for both technologies. Within an Italian research project, CNR TAE Institute has been involved in a Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicle (FCHEV) development for public transportation. The hybrid vehicle provides the use of a FCS that distributes the electrical power in the connection between batteries and traction inverter via a DC/DC converter for the extension of the daily autonomy with respect to pure electric mode. This work describes the possibilities for sustainable development of public passenger transport based on hydrogen technologies presenting the development phases of the powertrain and preliminary on road tests in the context of smart cities applications.

This paper reports main criteria for design, realization and validation of a solar-powered hydrogen fueling station in a smart city application relevant to an on-site hydrogen production plant. The program has been developed by CNR-ITAE together with other industrial partners in the framework of the Italian research project called i-NEXT (innovation for greeN Energy and eXchange in Transportation). The i-NEXT hydrogen production plant is located in the Municipality of Capo d'Orlando, Sicily, it is fed by a microgrid able to receive energy from solar radiation by a 100 kW rooftop photovoltaic plant and connected with a battery energy storage of 300 kWh (composed by 16 sodium nickel chloride high temperature batteries). The plant is able to deliver hydrogen and electricity for an electric and hydrogen vehicles fleet. The hydrogen fueling station includes four subsystems: a hydrogen production system by electrolysis, a compression system, a high-pressure storage system and a hydrogen dispenser for automotive applications. It is able to generate in the hydrogen production subsystem through an alkaline electrolyzer of 30 kWh: 6.64 Nm3/h of H2 with a gas purity of 99.995% (O2 < 5 ppm and dew point < -60 °C). The compression subsystem has a three stage compressor with a rated gas flow rate of 5,2 Nm3/h and a delivery pressure of 360 bar. The compressed H2 gas is stored in a high-pressure tanks of 350 L capacity allowing, in this way, a supply through a dispenser system of two automotive's tanks of 150 L @ 350 bar in less than 30 min. This paper reports the design and the development results coming from a first test campaign. © 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC

After introducing the methodology in the first part of the article, in this Part 2 the algorithm is applied to calculate and identify the optimal positions of the charging stations for electric vehicles in the Italian highway network. The main objective is to map the infrastructural needs of the country using the information acquired from the most recent data base. The results can also be used to facilitate the application of the Directive on the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure. In the paper the market for electric vehicles circulating in Italy is initially analyzed and, after applying an appropriate filtering, the algorithm input variables relating to the vehicle system (vehicle autonomy and energy of the battery pack) are identified. For this purpose, both the registration data and the technical characteristics provided by the manufacturers have been used. Subsequently the road system (the flow of vehicles with related indicators), the infrastructures (the number of sockets and the charging station power), and driver behavior (range anxiety) are considered. The results show a map of candidate points to allocate the charging stations divided by region. After having sized and placed the charging infrastructures with different planning scenario, some future projections are also introduced.

Meeting the worldwide energy demand for the present and future transportation systems with the least impact on the environment is a big challenge. In the i-NEXT (Innovation for greeN Energy and eXchange in Transportation) project a Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicle (FCHEV) minibus for people transportation has been implemented. This paper reports some preliminary test drive. The vehicle architecture has been developed considering that, both recharge time and autonomy of a purely electric vehicle are operational limits, and the fuel cell technology is able to enhance these parameters. An electric engine with lithium ion batteries and a 20 kW Fuel Cell System characterize the vehicle. The test drive has been carried out in Capo d’Orlando municipality (Sicily) allowing the acquisition of key data.

Capacity loss over time is a critical issue for lithium-ion batteries powering battery electric vehicles (BEVs) because it affects vehicle range and performance. Driving cycles have a major impact on the ageing of these devices because they are subjected to high stresses in certain uses that cause degradation phenomena directly related to vehicle use. Calendar capacity also impacts the battery pack for most of its lifetime with a capacity degradation. The manuscript describes experimental tests on a lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles with up to 10% capacity loss in the WLTP CLASS 3B driving cycle. The lithium-ion battery considered consists of an LMO-NMC cathode and a graphite anode with a capacity of 63 Ah for automotive applications. An internal impedance variation was observed compared to the typical full charge/discharge profile. Incremental capacitance (IC) and differential voltage (DV) analysis were performed in different states of cell health. A lifetime model is described to compute the total capacity loss for cycling and calendar ageing exploiting real data under some different scenarios of vehicle usage.

Abstract Gradual electrification is widely considered as a feasible strategy for reducing the oil dependency and CO2 emissions of road transportation. In chase of these aims increasing importance has been attributed to Electric Vehicles (EVs). Although the European Commission has strongly supported sustainable mobility initiatives in recent years, with the purpose of decarbonizing road transport and mitigating urban air pollution, results are below expectations. Among the initiatives that can be implemented the most important is certainly the use of electric vehicles on a large scale but it will be necessary, in parallel, to plan an appropriate system of infrastructures that will be able to support the expansion. In this paper a methodology to provide optimal locations of electric vehicle infrastructures in a highway network is proposed. The procedure can also be used to support the implementation of the DAFI (Directive on the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure). The goal is to estimate the basic number of charging stations and determine their correct allocation on the road network by analyzing the supply and demand and considering the psychological component of the driver. In Part 1, the subject of this research article, a model is presented to detect how many charging infrastructures are required within the service areas and to identify their location. After the description of the solution algorithm, a test application is performed in order to assess model and technique. With the aim of analysing a high-level system, the model will be used, in Part 2 of the work, to calculate and distribute the charging point on the Italian case study.

Analisi relativa alla realizzazione di un impianto fotovoltaico con sistema di accumulo connesso alla rete elettrica di distribuzione da installarsi presso Officina Meme - MuTA box