Learning from the real-world: Insights on light-vehicle efficiency and CO2 emissions from long-term on-board fuel and energy consumption data collection

Abstract

This study explores the potential of On-Board Fuel and energy Consumption Monitoring (OBFCM) and telemetry to bridge the knowledge gap in real-world vehicle usage and fuel/energy consumption. Driving data from 50 light-duty vehicles with different technologies was collected over-the-air through OBD dongles and analysed (data is made available online), highlighting elements of vehicles real-world operation complementing the official OBFCM datasets. Fuel and energy consumption metrics are presented for the vehicle technologies captured, together with an analysis of the real-world factors affecting them. Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) and Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicles (MHEVs) are mostly affected by urban driving, with a fuel increase of up to +1.20 l/100 km. Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are mostly affected by motorway driving, with an increase of +1.26 and +3.85 l/100 km respectively. Extreme ambient temperatures affect ICEVs and MHEVs (up to +1 l/100 km) less than HEVs and PHEVs (+1.5 l/100 km and more). Distance statistics are also analysed in terms of daily driven distance distribution, total annual distance and shares between different driving conditions (urban, rural and motorway). PHEVs charge sustaining and pure electric driving consumption are presented together with details on the charging events. Real-world hints on the utility factor concept are discussed. Our PHEVs corporate users consume more compared to private users because of lower charging applied. The findings highlight how OBFCM provides accurate real-world data, crucial for accelerating greenhouse gas emissions reduction and energy consumption improvements.