The B2B platform for full-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: Industry News

SAE International has revised the J1711 standard to measure more accurately the exhaust emissions and fuel economy of hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers) has published a revised version of its J1711 standard originally published in March 1999: Recommended Practice for Measuring the Exhaust Emissions and Fuel Economy of Hybrid-Electric Vehicles, Including Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles.

According to Michael Duoba, an automotive engineer with the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and also chair of the SAE International Hybrid J1711 Task Force, the new procedure helps to provide consistent information to the consumer. The Argonne engineers primarily revised the test procedures to better evaluate PHEV technologies.

A move towards electrified vehicles

Duoba had led for the past three years the SAE International task force charged with updating uniform chassis dynamometer test procedures for PHEVs and HEVs. SAE J1711 was recently approved by SAE members during a two-phase voting process. This important accomplishment will encourage and support the nation’s move to electrified vehicles for petroleum savings.

“Until now, the fuel economy claims for plug-in hybrids were not calculated according to similar procedures, making car-to-car comparisons virtually impossible. What makes this procedure -and other SAE-developed recommended practices - significant is that EPA typically considers them as the basis for the automotive regulations it promulgates. Ultimately, the consumer benefits with valuable vehicle information that can help guide a purchase decision,” he says.

What next?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue later this year a new regulation that will define a PHEV fuel economy reporting protocol. Much of the new EPA regulation is likely to be based on SAE J1711.