City Car Research Articles

Bangkok’s locked-in traffic jam: Price congestion or regulate parking?

The current state of inner city car transport is highly inefficient, producing congestion, air and noise pollution, accidents, and contributing to global warming. We evaluate the environmental and social costs of motorized transport in Bangkok that turned in the last 25 years from a bus and motorcycle to a car-traffic dominated city, one of the world’s most congested. We find that total external costs burden Bangkok’s economy by about 7% – 10.8% of the GRP, almost half originating in congestion. We evaluate optimal Pigouvian taxation of driving a vehicle in Bangkok and calculate the costs of on-street parking in the inner city. Optimal congestion charging is about $2.3, optimal road toll is about $2.7, and optimal inner city parking is about $3.2 per hour. Our results imply that urban mobility would profit most from a combination of congestion and parking pricing, maintaining most of the flexibility of transport, e.g., by incentivizing shared pooled mobility, while also improving urban quality of life. Better parking management and inner city tolls would benefit most cities in rapidly urbanizing and motorizing Southeast Asia.

Distributed parking management architecture based on multi-agent systems

<span>With the increase of the number of vehicles on the road, several traffic congestion problems arise in the big city, and this has a negative impact on the economy, environment and citizens. The time spent looking for a parking space and the traffic generated contributes to mobility and traffic management problems. Hence the need for smart parking management to help drivers to find vacant spaces in a car park in a shorter time. Today, researchers are considering scenarios in which a large amount of services can be offered and used by drivers and authorities to improve the management of the city's car parks and standards of quality of life. Based on literature on smart parking management system (SPMS), we have established the most important services needed such as reservation, orientation, synchronization, and security. The dynamic distributed and open aspect of the problem led us to adopt a multi-agent modeling to ensure continuous evolution and flexibility of the management system. In this conceptual paper, we propose to structure those services on a multi-agent system (MAS) that covers the whole functions of a distributed SPMS. Each service is provided as an autonomous agent, able to communicate and collaborate with the others to propose optimized parking space to customers.</span>

Performance Analysis of a Main Drive Motor—Initial Study of an EV Modeling Software Design

This study aimed to determine and analyze the performance of an electric motor installed in a small city car, which was an internal combustion engine (ICE) car with manual transmission and front-wheel drive converted into an electric vehicle. A manual transmission vehicle was used, considering its type is the cheapest. This was to push aside the perception that electric cars are not accessible to the lower classes. Another technical matter was the focus on the power and torque performance of the electric motor and the transmission. A 7.5 KW three-phase induction motor was installed and assembled with 200 AH 76.8 VDC batteries. Electronic power steering (EPS) and the air conditioner (AC) were not operated, while power for the electrical accessories and power analyzer was obtained from a separate 12 VDC battery. Vehicle analysis focused on the power consumption, which was measured and acquired using a power analyzer. The vehicle was driven in real terms with three passengers. GPS was also used to determine the vehicle position and collect elevation data during testing. The derivatives of the GPS data were the speed, acceleration, and distance traveled by the vehicle. The initial hypothesis was that the car could cover a distance of 30 km with regular usage.

Extracting travel patterns from floating car data to identify electric mobility needs: A case study in a metropolitan area

The main objective of this paper is to identify the potential of electric vehicles in current car mobility scenarios. Firstly, distances traveled daily are analyzed to understand if the car usage observed can be satisfied by the expected range of electric vehicles. Secondly, idle times between trips are studied to assess vehicle needs and identify the requirements for electric charging stations to support the trip-chains observed. The datasets were derived from floating car data recorded for 365 days and include more than 30 million trips crossing the Metropolitan City of Turin (Italy). Approximately 70,000 km were observed daily for more than 10,000 vehicles for 400 different vehicle models to identify their activities over 24 hours. This daily activity in the observation period can be considered a reference scenario, in synergy with the battery range, to plan charging points in road networks. Results show that 98% of daily VKT (vehicle kilometers traveled) are lower than 300 km, over a year of observation. Cars are also classified according to their market segment to identify specific vehicle usage, defining a data dictionary to relate the models and segments. For instance, daily VKT values estimated for segment A (city cars) average 34 km, whereas for segment E (executive cars) the average is 75 km. The spatial analysis of idle times reveals a higher number of shorter breaks in the city center compared to peripheral districts, suggesting that recharging solutions should be adapted to zones according to how they are used for parking.

Experimental Fitting of Redesign Electrified Turbocompressor of a Novel Mild Hybrid Power Train for a City Car

As part of a project for the realization of a hybrid vehicle with an innovative power train system, the proposal presented is to disconnect the turbocharger group and study the different behavior of the compressor and turbine, so decoupled. In an actual turbocharger, when the power of the turbine exceeds that required by the compressor, the wastegate valve opens. In this way, a part of the flue gases does not evolve into a turbine and limits the power generated. In the solution proposed here (the paper considers only “compressor side”) all the flow rate of the flue gases is processed by the turbine. In this way, for each rpms of the IC engine, the turbine generates more power than that required by the compressor. This makes it possible to use this surplus of power for the auxiliaries and/or to recharge the battery pack of the considered hybrid vehicle. An additional advantage is, thanks to this surplus generated, that the battery pack can be smaller and can be recharged while driving. Therefore, the entire system operates as a “Range Extended”. As mentioned above, this work is focused on the direct compressor—innovative electric motor coupling will be sized and realized, and a subsequent series of experimental tests will confirm the feasibility of this phase of the project.

Development of Brake Booster Design for Electric City Cars

Development of Brake Booster Design for Electric City Cars

Modeling, Simulation and Analysis of Electric Vehicle Driven by Induction Motor

The electric vehicle (EV)was spread around the world due to the environmental considerations. Induction motor (IM) is one type of electric motors used as main drive for EV. The present work uses Matlab/Simulink for modeling and simulation of MITSUBISHI I-MIEV model city car. Three case studies were taken in the simulation of complete (EV+IM) model with different loads and speeds. The simulation tests indicate the ability of IM in driving the EV with high stability in different motion mode.

Design of a Tandem Compressor for the Electrically-Driven Turbocharger of a Hybrid City Car

Within a broader national project aimed at the hybridization of a standard city car (the 998 cc Mitsubishi-derived gasoline engine of the Smart W451), our team tackled the problem of improving the supercharger performance and response. The originally conceived design innovation was that of eliminating the mechanical connection between the compressor and the turbine. In the course of the study, it turned out that it is also possible to modify both components to extract extra power from the engine and to use it to recharge the battery pack. This required a redesign of both compressor and turbine. First, the initial configuration was analyzed on the basis of the design data provided by the manufacturer. Then, a preliminary performance assessment of the turbocharged engine allowed us to identify three “typical” operating points that could be used to properly redesign the turbomachinery. It was decided to maintain the radial configuration for both turbine and compressor, but to redesign the latter by adding an inducer. For the turbine, only minor modifications to the nozzle guide vanes (NGV) and rotor blades shape were deemed necessary, while a more substantial modification was in order for the compressor. Fully 3-D computational fluid dynamics simulations of the rotating machines were performed to assess their performance at three operating points: the kick-in point of the original turbo (2000 rpm), the maximum power regime (5500 rpm), and an intermediate point (3500 rpm) close to the minimum specific fuel consumption for the original engine. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that the efficiency of the compressor is noticeably improved for steady operation at all three operating points, and that its choking characteristics have been improved, while its surge line has not been appreciably affected. The net energy recovery was also calculated and demonstrated interesting returns in terms of storable energy in the battery pack.

Carbon footprint of different methods of coffee preparation

Roasted and ground coffee in Italy is currently dominating in consumption and revenues. However, the portioned coffee market is recording continuous and constant growth notwithstanding a great concern about the unnecessary consumption of non-renewable resources and huge generation of often aluminum-polluted wastes. The aim of this work was to assess the cradle-to-grave carbon footprint of a 40-mL cup of coffee, prepared using different brewing methods (i.e., a 3-cup Moka pot, and three single-serving coffee machines) and distinct formats (i.e., 250-g vacuum flexible bags, 44-mm Easy Serving Espresso pods, and Nespresso®-type capsules), in compliance with the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050 standard method. The production of one cup of coffee gave rise to 45-57 or 47-59 g CO2e when using the Moka pot heated by an induction- or gas-fired stove, 74-96 g CO2e when using the espresso coffee machine, 72-92 g CO2e when using the pod coffee machine, and 57-73 g CO2e when using the capsule coffee machine, whether the post-consumer wastes were incinerated or disposed of in landfills. Moreover, by using coffee pods or capsules, the contribution of the packaging material production and post-consumer waste disposal increased up to represent the secondary share of the overall GHG emissions. Based on these estimates, the environmentally aware consumer should be conscious that the preparation of a cup of coffee with a coffee pod or capsule machine would result in extra emissions of 27.6 or 12.6 g CO2e with respect to those emitted with an induction Moka pot, respectively. By referring to the current Italian consumption of 80-million coffee cups per day, such extra GHG emissions would equal to those emitted by a Euro 5 city car (ca. 100 g CO2e/km) traveling around the Earth's equator as many as 551 or 252 times per day, respectively.

Preliminary Analysis of a New Power Train Concept for a City Hybrid Vehicle

This research aims to test the feasibility of a prototype of a newly designed thermal engine for a hybrid propulsion vehicle. This study consists of the implementation of an innovative supercharger for city car internal combustion engine ICE (900 cc). The preliminary proposal presented here is to mechanically disconnect the compressor/turbine device, supporting the rotation of the compressor with a dedicated electric motor and connecting a turbine to a generator. Mechanical decoupling will allow both machines to be designed for operating closer to their maximum performance point, for most of the expected real field of operation. Specifically, the turbine is likely to have a lower rotation speed than the original group and will, therefore, be slightly larger. The advantage is that, while in the current supercharger groups the surplus at high regimes is discharged through the waste-gate valve without expanding in a turbine, in the configuration proposed, all the energy of the combustible gases is used by the turbine to generate electrical power that can be used where required. Once the motorization of the vehicle (999 cc) has been fixed, the two turbomachines will have to be studied and designed, looking where possible, for commercial components. Finally, a computational fluid dynamic CFD will be needed to verify the validity of the choice, followed by careful experimentation campaigns.

Study, Development and Prototyping of a Novel Mild Hybrid Power Train for a City Car: Design of the Turbocharger

Within a large, state-funded, Italian National Project aimed to test the feasibility of an on-the-road prototype of a mild hybrid city vehicle, one of the tasks was to conceive, design and implement an innovative turbocharger that would allow for some energy recovery. The selected vehicle is propelled by a 3-cylinder, 998 cc turbocharged engine (the 66 kW Mitsubishi-Smart W451). The idea is to implement two types of energy recovery: one via the new turbocharger and one through a standard braking energy recovery (also known as KERS). The study of the former is the object of this paper. The proposed turbocharger configuration consists of mechanically separated, electrically coupled compressor and turbine, possibly mounting only slightly modified commercial equipment to reduce construction costs. This paper reports the results of the calculation of the behavior of the new turbocharging group across the entire engine operating range and describes the preliminary design of the unit. An accurate simulation of a mixed (urban and extra-urban) driving mission demonstrates that a net saving of about 5.6% can be attained by the installation of the novel turbocharger unit.

Car shape clustering using sobel edge detection with divisive average linkage and single linkage algorithm (case: bus, sedan, citycar, mpv, and truck)

This study aims to make an application that able to make clustering for car type based on shape by using edge detection and clustering algorithm. The car types being used in this study are the image of the bus, sedan, city car, mpv, and truck. In this study, the method used to classify is with the divisive average linkage and single linkage method. The goal is to prove whether the divisive average linkage and single linkage can be used to classify the shape of the car image correctly. The shape obtained by using the Sobel edge detection method because the Sobel method is an edge detector that has advantages in reducing the noise before doing calculations so that the resulting edges form an image like the original.

Soot contamination of engine oil – the case of a small turbocharged spark-ignition engine

The paper presents the results of thermogravimetric tests of engine oil used in a small turbocharged spark-ignition engine. The main observation from the research was a significant soot contamination of engine oil, that appears even at its low mileage. This indicates that also in the case of port fuel injection spark-ignition engine, high particulate matter emissions may occur. It may therefore turn out that the small city car can be more harmful to the environment than much larger vehicles. A rapid soot contamination of the oil in this engine indicates as well that the oil change interval should be shortened.

Designing, Prototyping, Assembling and Costs Analysis of a Gas Turbine Hybrid Vehicle

Hybrid vehicles currently represent a compromise between the maturity of conventional vehicles and the low consumption and attention to environmental issues of electric vehicles. This article analyzes the feasibility of a hybrid series vehicle where the heat engine is replaced by a micro gas turbine. In the continuous generation of electric current, it has numerous advantages compared to an internal combustion engine and the purpose of the article is to verify whether these advantages also apply to traction in a hybrid vehicle. The model will be a city car as problems in urban environments of pollution and optimization of consumption are more revealing. After defining performance requirements, the main components are sized and then selected from the catalog, paying attention in the search for a compromise between performance, space constraints, and costs. The Advisor software will then be used to simulate the configuration in both urban and suburban cycles, paying attention to performance, the state of charge of the battery, the operating points of the microturbine, the input and output energy for each element, and fuel consumption. Then, we analyze the level of pollutant emissions to verify that they are lower than the values set by European legislation, specifically the EURO 6 standard. Finally, the total life cycle costs of the car are analyzed as the sum of the purchase cost, operating costs, and maintenance costs to verify the competitiveness of the configuration in the current market. The car was then compared with the Toyota Yaris Hybrid in terms of performance, fuel consumption, emissions, and costs to highlight advantages and disadvantages.

Engaging Halal Lifestyle toward Purchase Intention of Event Marketing : A Study on Car Free Day Activities in Aceh

This study aims to be able to test and analyze the effect of halal lifestyle, price and location on purchase intention in the activities of the Banda Aceh City Car Free Day. The method used is quantitative with Non Probability Sampling in the form of purposive sampling. The data used is primary data, which is obtained directly from the object to be studied in the form of respondents' perceptions by circulating a list of questions in the form of a questionnaire to 100 respondents. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression statistical tools. The partial test results show that the location variable does not have a positive and significant effect on purchase intention, while the price and halal lifestyle have a positive effect on purchase intention. The simultaneous test results also show that location, price and halal lifestyle variables have a positive and significant effect on purchase intention in the Banda Aceh City Car Free Day activities.

Hydrodynamic effect on non‐stationary vehicles at varying Froude numbers under subcritical flows on flat roadways

AbstractWater is essentially a powerful component, strong enough to even move vehicles at the lowest hydraulic parameters. The flow orientation as well as the geometric and physical characteristics of a vehicle attribute to the way floodwaters affect and control the vehicle. Herein an effort has been made to study the hydrodynamic impact on a non‐stationary vehicle partially submerged attempting to cross a flooded roadway (flat conditions). In arriving at the outcomes, extensive experimental testing was carried out on a Malaysian made city car, Perodua Viva (1:10), which was controlled to be partially submerged under the influence of subcritical flows. The experimental data was proven through theoretical equations based on the instability failure modes. The variation of the Froude number with respect to varying hydrodynamic forces has been further explored and conversed. The incipient velocity formulation proposed herein has been validated through the experimental data and the results showed good agreement between the two with a correlation coefficient ofR2= 0.85. Among the main findings, it was noticed that the buoyancy force governed vehicle weight at depths greater than and equal to 0.0457 m for the scaled model. On the other hand, below critical depth, the dominancy of the drag force over frictional resistance and driving force caused sliding instability.

A New Car Concept Developed with Stylistic Design Engineering (SDE)

In this work, a structured design method, the Stylistic Design Engineering (SDE), is applied for the construction of a new minivan car, in particular a new city car, which we will call FIAT 600 Omega. The SDE, or Stylistic Design Engineering, is a structured engineering method for carrying out automotive design projects. The SDE method consists of six different phases: (1) Analysis of stylistic trends; (2) Sketches; (3) 2D Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawings; (4) 3D CAD models; (5) Rendering; (6) Solid stylistic model (also called style maquette). This project deals with the external redesign of the Fiat 600 multiple, a small minivan which was very successful in the 1950s and 1960s. SDE is a methodology consisting of various technologies and design methodologies that will be further explained in detail, such as the Pininfarina method, the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method, Benchmarking (BM), and Top Flop Analysis (TPA). The work was organized according to the different phases. Initially, the Fiat style was studied, in particular the style of the FIAT 600 MULTI PURPOUSE VEHICLE (MPV). This step is essential to better understand the characteristics of the brand and also the main characteristics carried out over the decades. Then we moved on to the freehand sketching phase, based on what we learned in the previous phase of the study. When a satisfactory shape was found for the new car, by analyzing and discarding the different proposals of the various types of style, we proceeded to the evaluation of the proportions and dimensions through two-dimensional drawings and finally we obtained the three-dimensional shape of the new car thanks to 3D CAD software and rendering software. Many advantages in the industrial world SDE takes together with its development. In fact, until the early 2000s, car design and styling was considered quite a craft activity, not a technical or scientific one, mostly based on the great capability of famous car designers and masters, just like Giugiaro, Zagato, Bertone, Pininfarina, Stephenson, Bangle, etc. Then, thanks to the industrial activity of Eng. Lorenzo Ramacciotti, former CEO of Pininfarina Spa and Mechanical Engineer, and also thanks to the academic studies developed at ALMA MATER STUDIORUM University of Bologna, SDE became the object of attention, because it is able to systematize the car design process and reduce costs. With SDE, a good design research or an industrial product development team can complete a car design project, also without the presence of a mentor. Car Design Process finally becomes with SDE a scientific method; Car Design becomes with SDE an industrial method. Industrial needs are nice products made in a short time; SDE is structured to attend these issues. Industrial challenges follow innovation, in shape and functionality; SDE is able to recognize innovation. Industrial benefits can be reached with SDE, ensuring beautiful aesthetic projects are realized systematically and with low costs.

Efficient Estimator of Rotor Temperature Designing for Electric and Hybrid Powertrain Platform

This paper presents an efficient method of estimation of rotor cage temperature for induction machine design, applied for electric and hybrid vehicles. This factor influences the torque produced by the induction machine with a field-oriented control algorithm. Equipping sensors to measure the temperature of a rotation component is expensive and is not representative of mass production. The approach of estimation of rotor cage temperature is based on the good knowledge of motor parameters and the estimation of the flux of the machine. For an accuracy inductance taking account of the saturation, the no-load test can be performed. The machine flux will be estimated taking account of the voltage drop of the system on the test-bench. The rapid prototyping in a real-time motor control platform will be presented that integrates this estimator of rotor temperature. We finally show the experimental testing results compared to the measurement of the rotor cage on a prototype asynchronous low-cost motor designing for battery electric city cars.

Developing PC-Based Driving Simulator System for Driver Behavior Analysis Research

Driving simulator is one of important system for driving behavior studies. It offers a replicable virtual driving environment and it has possibility to create a various scenarios to carry out in real environment. The problem in development of this simulator is how to reduce a prices in certain point areas have made it possible to create low-cost driving simulators, but with the features that are usually found only in expensive driving simulators. This article is presented a low cost PC-based driving simulator. The aim is to use the simulator as a platform for studies of the driver’s behavior. The complete simulator is using three 27” LED screen, handle by a standard PC, typically used for computer games. As Input we using steering, pedal and shifter G29, with force feedback. For software we using city car home edition as tools to measure validity user and developing simulator to driver’s behavior study.

Analyzing the Influence of Quality, Price, and After-Sales Service of 5 Sedan Low Category to Consumer Satisfaction

The demand for private transportation that comfort, cheap, and good quality has been increasing lately. It caused many companies to launch any car that can answer the request. Refer to Indonesia, people that like most to visit each other and traveling created an increasing demand for this type of car. The Indonesian automotive market launch type of car that has a sedan category but has a small shape, it called the city car. City car has answered the demand for many consumers especially for a little family with two or more children who want to have a small vehicle completed with comfort, cheap and excellent quality features so that my research is to proof is there any relation between quality, price and after-sales service according to consumer satisfaction to 5 best seller refer to web otomotif.kompas.com, they are Toyota Agya, Daihatsu Ayla, Honda Brio Satya, Suzuki Wagon R15 dan Datsun GO+. The result of this research is proving that quality, price, and after-sales service has a connection to consumer satisfaction