On-Road and Laboratory Emissions from Three Gasoline Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles-Part 2: Solid Particle Number Emissions

Anastasios Melas, Tommaso Selleri, Jacopo Franzetti, Christian Ferrarese, Ricardo Suarez-Bertoa and Barouch Giechaskiel
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Anastasios Melas: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, Italy
Tommaso Selleri: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, Italy
Jacopo Franzetti: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, Italy
Christian Ferrarese: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, Italy
Ricardo Suarez-Bertoa: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, Italy
Barouch Giechaskiel: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, Italy

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-15

Abstract: Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are a promising technology for reducing the tailpipe emissions of CO 2 as well as air pollutants, especially in urban environments. However, several studies raise questions over their after-treatment exhaust efficiency when their internal combustion engine (ICE) ignites. The rationale is the high ICE load during the cold start in combination with the cold conditions of the after-treatment devices. In this study, we measured the solid particle number (SPN) emissions of two Euro 6d and one Euro 6d-TEMP gasoline direct injection (GDI) PHEVs (electric range 52–61 km) all equipped with a gasoline particulate filter, in the laboratory and on-road with different states of charge of the rechargeable electric energy storage system (REESS) and ambient temperatures. All vehicles met the regulation limits but it was observed that, even for fully charged REESS, when the ICE ignited SPN emissions were similar or even higher in some cases compared to the operation of these vehicles solely with their ICE (discharged REESS) and also when compared to conventional GDI vehicles. On-road SPN emission rate spikes during the first 30 s after a cold start were, on average, 2 to 15 times higher with charged compared to discharged REESS due to higher SPN concentrations and exhaust flow rates. For one vehicle in the laboratory under identical driving conditions, the ICE ignition at high load resulted in 10-times-higher SPN emission rate spikes at cold-start compared to hot-start. At −10 °C, for all tested vehicles, the ICE ignited at the beginning of the cycle even when the REESS was fully charged, and SPN emissions increased from 30% to 80% compared to the cycle at 23 °C in which the ICE ignited. The concentration of particles below 23 nm, which is the currently regulated lower particle size, was low (≤18%), showing that particles larger than 23 nm were mainly emitted irrespective of cold or hot engine operation and ambient temperature.

Keywords: electric motor; gasoline direct injection; WLTC; RDE; cold-start emissions; sub-23 nm particles; REESS; low ambient temperature; hybrid vehicles; gasoline particulate filter (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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