Ricardo awarded key heavy-­duty zero­-emissions vehicle project by CARB

Ricardo Strategic Consulting has been selected by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to monitor, collect, and analyze the data for heavy­-duty vehicle projects funded under Air Quality Improvement Program and the low carbon transportation Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

The Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) are initiatives of CARB, and have seen significant investments since their inception in fiscal year 2014­-15. A wide range of advanced technology demonstration projects have been carried out under these initiatives, all aimed at helping to pull forward Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) technology in the commercial vehicle and bus transportation sectors.

CARB has awarded a contract to Ricardo to quantify the emission reduction benefits and performance of the advanced technologies vehicles, compared to current conventionally fuelled vehicles. Ricardo will also assess the economic viability and commercialization readiness of the advanced zero­-emission technologies for wider adoption within the industry. The work will include the monitoring and analysis of over 140 advanced vehicles. Some of these will be based on battery electric powertrains, while others will feature technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells, CNG range extenders, diesel plug­in hybrids, and co­operative-intelligent transportation systems across truck, bus and off­road applications.

To support the initiative, Ricardo will utilize both its proprietary total cost of ownership and quantitative adoption rate models, to assess the competitive positioning of the technologies and the key steps towards their large­-scale commercialization.

“Data­driven assessment is essential to the accurate evaluation of performance, economic viability, commercial readiness and emissions reduction benefits, of advanced new technologies,” commented Piyush Bubna, program manager for the project at Ricardo Strategic Consulting. “It also allows an assessment of how these technologies can gain wider adoption across several commercial transportation applications. The project will help California to identify the need for future investments and help guide future policy for advanced technology zero­ and near zero-­emission heavy-­duty vehicles.”

“Ricardo is extremely pleased to have been given the opportunity to perform this contract for the Air Resources Board,” added Marc Wiseman, president of Ricardo Strategic Consulting North America. “We look forward to supporting CARB and those in receipt of project funding as well as stakeholders throughout commercial vehicle industry – including fleet operators, vehicle manufacturers, infrastructure providers and utilities companies – with data collection, analysis summaries, and insights on the potential commercialization opportunities for the new technologies assessed.”