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Cummins approached researchers at three of the national laboratories—Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)—to discuss the possibility of a partnership. The labs possessed unique expertise in laser diagnostics and computer modeling and housed unique state-of-the-art facilities, including specialized measurement equipment and extremely fast supercomputers

Although the Multi-Material Lightweight Vehicle (MMLV) is never going to appear on a dealership lot, this project demonstrated the feasibility of integrating lightweight materials and joining technologies into current production vehicles. Built by Vehma International and Ford, with support from EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Office, the MMLV is a concept car that weighs 23.5% less than the 2013 Ford Fusion, a similar mid-size sedan.

With the potential to reduce the weight of vehicle components by up to 60%, carbon fiber composites is one of the most promising lightweight materials available to improve vehicle efficiency. However, its current inputs and manufacturing processes are expensive, severely limiting its use in most high-volume vehicle models.

A computer code developed by a trio of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers has significantly advanced predictive computer science for designing next-generation car and truck engines.

History of technology

Traveling down any U.S. highway, a driver is bound to see as many big rigs as they do other vehicles.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been working with General Motors, Lubrizol, and Shell to develop new additives for lubricants that could boost fuel economy by 2% compared to commercially available synthetic oils. These ionic lubricant additives – organic salts that are liquids at ambient temperatures – may also be able to improve durability in addition to vehicle fuel economy. Once commercialized, this technology could be used immediately by drivers to improve fuel economy in their existing cars without needing to purchase a new vehicle.

Internal combustion engines have the potential to become substantially more efficient, with laboratory tests indicating that new technologies could increase passenger vehicle fuel economy by more than 50%. FCA and its partners recently took major steps toward fulfilling this potential through a project supported by EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Office. This team improved the fuel economy of a vehicle similar to Chrysler’s Town and Country minivan by more than 25%, while also meeting the Environmental Protection Agency’s most stringent emissions standards.

Cooper Tire recently developed concept tires that can improve fuel efficiency by 5.5%, supported by a project from the EERE Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO).  In addition to exceeding VTO’s goal of improving fuel efficiency by 3%, the new tires are more than 23% (5 to 6 pounds) lighter than current tires. They also reduce rolling resistance by more than 30% while still meeting performance and durability goals.

Autonomie, an advanced vehicle modeling and design software package created by Argonne National laboratory with EERE support, is helping U.S. auto manufacturers develop the next generation of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Technology innovation comes in many forms – sometimes, it’s as simple as adapting a recent but un-commercialized innovation to a seemingly-unrelated problem.  That’s what happened when General Motors needed a battery tray and enclosure for the Chevy Spark EV; they found the answer in a lightweight composite technology they developed previously, through a Vehicle Technologies Office-supported project.

Increasing the number of plug-in electric vehicles on America’s roads can help reduce our dependence on petroleum, improving our economic, environmental, and energy security.   But without research undertaken at Argonne National Laboratory, supported by EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), PEVs may have had a very different, slower introduction to the market.  Today, batteries in both the Chevrolet Volt and the Ford Focus EV use technology that was originally developed at Argonne.

Improving battery manufacturing processes can help make plug-in electric vehicles more affordable and convenient. This will help meet the government’s EV Everywhere goal of producing by 2022 plug-in electric vehicles that are as affordable for the average American family then as a gasoline-powered vehicle is for families today.  By reducing process time and eliminating a specific processing solvent, Johnson Controls recently made progress in this area, with support from EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Office.

With help from the Energy Department, Class 8 trucks recently hit a record of 12 miles per gallon (mpg) freight efficiency. This milestone is actually a 115% increase in freight efficiency (which includes both fuel used and weight hauled) over typical Class 8 trucks, which typically average 5.8 miles to the gallon!  As Class 8 trucks haul as much as 80% of the nation’s goods, improving their efficiency is essential to increasing energy security and reducing carbon pollution.

A battery company supported by the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) has an agreement to manufacture silicon nanowire material for lithium-ion batteries on a commercial scale for the first time.  OneD Materials, which had a project from 2011 to 2014 with VTO, recently signed a production license and agreement with EaglePicher Technologies, a U.S.

Because a 10% reduction in vehicle weight can result in a 6%-8% fuel economy improvement, lightweight materials like aluminum are essential for improving vehicle efficiency.  In an EERE Vehicle Technologies Office-supported project, researchers have demonstrated a new process that will enable manufacturers to expand the use of lightweight aluminum in cars and trucks.

Building on a catalysis research program sponsored by EERE’s Vehicles Technology Office (VTO) and DOE’s Office of Science, researchers at Cummins, Inc. and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed technology that has significantly reduced harmful emissions from many of today’s fuel-efficient diesel engines. The same research program also advanced the foundational understanding of catalyst structures and reactions, leading among other things to a 2009 publication in Science.

Plug-in electric vehicle technologies are on their way to being even lighter, more powerful and more efficient with the advent of power inverters created by 3-D printing and novel semiconductors.

The average car uses more than 4,000 spot welds to hold its parts together.  While manufacturers currently inspect the quality of welds by prying apart samples, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) recently licensed a non-destructive technology that could check all welds in real-time on the production line.  This new technology could make this process faster and more efficient, allowing vehicles to be safer and of a higher quality. Oak Ridge developed this technology through a research project supported by EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Office.

Through a cooperative R&D project with the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), UQM Technologies, a company developing propulsion systems for electric, hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles recently patented a new design for electric vehicle motors that use non-rare earth magnets. 

Cummins, the world's largest diesel engine manufacturer, received funds from EERE to research advanced engine technology for heavy-duty and light-duty vehicles.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is demonstrating its award-winning self-inflating tires by testing the Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) on U.S. trucking fleets. Goodyear has received multiple accolades for this EERE-funded automated tire inflation system, which automatically manages air pressure in tires. Awards to date include: the 2012 Popular Mechanics' Breakthrough Award; Car and Driver’s 10 Most Promising Future Technologies; and being recognized as one of TIME magazine’s Best Inventions of the Year in 2012.

The trucks are part of a much larger Recovery Act project, which is expected to reduce 3.1 million GGE/year and 8,429 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

Oregon is planning for the large-scale deployment of hybrid and all-electric vehicles to reach the state's goal of 30,000 plug-in vehicles by 2015.

BASF Catalysts, a battery component manufacturer, is running the largest cathode materials manufacturing facility in the country with support from EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO). The factory was supported by a $25 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project. Located in Elyria, Ohio, the facility at full capacity is capable of producing 2,500 metric tons per year of nickel-cobalt-metal cathode materials, a critical component of lithium-ion batteries.

Multi-mode RCCI (Reactivity-Controlled Compression Ignition), a promising advanced combustion process, has the potential to improve fuel economy of passenger cars by at least 15%, according to a recent study performed by a team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, supported by EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO).  The technology could also potentially reduce the engine’s NOx emissions that contribute to smog by 17-21% compared to traditional light-duty diesel engines.