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Medium Duty ARRA Data 

Reporting and Analysis

P.I.: Kevin Walkowicz

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

2014 DOE VTO Annual Merit Review

June 17, 2014

Washington, D.C.

NREL/PR-5400-61910 Project ID VSS124

This presentation does not contain any proprietary, confidential, or otherwise restricted information.
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Overview

• Multiple Sites/Projects: varies by project

• Project Length: varies by project

• For FY14: Some "in-process," some "new"

• Percent Complete: ~70%

• Unbiased Data: Commercial users and 

OEMs need unbiased, 3rd-party data for 

better understanding of state-of-the-art 

technology performance to overcome 

technical barriers

• Variable Commercial Vehicle Use: Variable 

performance by technologies due to multiple 

and wide-ranging duty cycles (makes data 

and analysis of data valuable in overcoming 

this barrier)

• Total Project Funding : ~$700K

o DOE Share: $250K in FY14

o Participant cost share: in-kind support 

(data supplied to NREL) 

• DOE Funding Received in FY13: $200K 

Timeline

Budget

Barriers

Partners

• Industry collaboration required for successful 

studies. Current Partners in FY14: 

Smith, Navistar, Cascade Sierra Solutions, 

Shorepower, Odyne, South Coast Air Quality 

Management District (SCAQMD), Electric Power 

Research Institute (EPRI)

• Project Lead: National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (NREL)

FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15

Navistar e-star

Smith Newton

Cascade Sierra

Odyne PHEV
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Relevance

This project compiles medium-duty (MD) aggregated deployment data and 

compiles detailed analysis to industry :

• The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act (ARRA) deployment and demonstration projects are 

helping to commercialize technologies for all-electric vehicles (EVs), 

electrified accessories, and electric charging infrastructure.

o Over 3.2 million miles of in-service medium all-electric duty truck data from 560 different 

vehicles have been collected since 2011

o Usage data from over 1,000 truck electrification sites have been collected since 2013

• Through the DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office, NREL is working to analyze 

real-time data from these deployment and demonstration projects to 

quantify the benefits

o Results and summary statistics are made available through the NREL website as quarterly 

and annual reports

o 23 aggregated reports have been published on the performance and operation of these 

vehicles

o Detailed data are being extracted to help further understand battery use and performance
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Milestones

Month / 

Year

Milestone or 

Go/No-Go Decision

Description Status

Q1 Milestone Status Report on all Projects Complete

Q2 Milestone Status Report on all Projects Complete

Q3 Milestone Status Report on all Projects On-Track

Q4 Milestone Final Report & Data on all 

Projects

On-Track

• In addition to the above reports, aggregated quarterly and aggregated cumulative 

reports will be published
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Approach/Strategy

• Obtain 25+ parameters at 1 Hz from each vehicle to be stored and analyzed 

by NREL

• Obtain truck stop electrification (TSE) usage records that detail each time a 

site is used

• Securely collect, store, analyze, and back up this dataset

• Refine and optimize processing routines to handle increased volumes of 

data

• Continue to increase the number of metrics used, and cross-correlate this 

data with other fleet evaluations to better understand petroleum and 

emissions displacement

• Work with industry partners to understand what metrics are most useful for 

analyzing and growing these technologies

• Report data and progress back to DOE and the general public 
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Smith Electric Vehicles – Newton

• 500 Newtons being deployed in the U.S.

o Manufactured in Kansas City, MO

o $32-million ARRA award

o Currently reporting

– 259 of 309 first generation

– 200 of 203 second generation

o 80 – 120 kWh Li-ion battery packs

o Service and delivery applications

o Deployments include:

– Coca Cola (NY)

– Kansas City Power and Light (MO)

– AT&T (MO)

– Staples (CA, OH)

– PG&E (CA)

Technical Accomplishments and Progress

NREL 22851

GVW = gross vehicle weight
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Trip Data

Overall Diesel Equivalent Fuel Economy 24.7 mpge 28.1 mpge

Overall AC Energy 1,858.0 Wh/mi 1,796.5 Wh/mi

Overall DC Electrical Energy Discharged 1,519.5 Wh/mi 1,338.7 Wh/mi

Driving DC Electrical Energy Consumption 1,412.8 Wh/mi 1,278.8 Wh/mi

Total Number of Charges 155,057 54,280

Total Charge Energy Delivered 3,953,616 kWh 1,375,464 kWh

Total Distance Traveled 2,127,895 miles 765,642 miles

City | Highway Distance 1,381,555 | 752,060 miles 48,220 | 320,168 miles

City | Highway Distance 64.9 | 35.3 % 58.5 | 41.8 %

Smith Newton Vehicle Performance

Gen 1

(11/2011 – 3/2014)

Gen 2

(1/2013 – 3/2014)

Number of vehicles (Gen1 / Gen2): 259 / 200 Number of vehicle days driven: 83,799 / 29,247

Objective: Number of operating cities: 81 / 40

Performance evaluation of ARRA-funded Smith EVs 

deployed throughout the United States in MD delivery 

applications

• Using automated analysis and reporting routines

• Gen 1 vehicles: 309 unique IDs / 259 processed

• Gen 2 vehicles: 203 unique IDs / 200 processed

• Gen 2 vehicles showing improved performance

NREL 22848
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Smith Newton Vehicle Performance

• Potential grid load effects and how these vehicles 

may impact the electrical demand for a given 

depot

• Depot electrical demand can impact time of use 

demand charges and transformer sizing

• Quarterly reports: 

http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/fleettest/re

search_electric_smith.html

NREL 22851
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Smith Newton Vehicle Performance
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Navistar – eStar

• The Navistar eStar

o 12K lbs. GVW (class 3)

o Lithium ion, A123 Systems

o Manufactured in Elkhart, IN

o Planned deployments

– FedEx (CA)

– Cascadia Dealer (OR)

– Pacific Gas and Electric (CA)

GVW 12,122 lbs.

Payload (Max) 5,100 lbs.

Curb Weight 7,022 lbs.

Charging Standard J1772

Battery Capacity 80 kWh

Motor Power 70 kW

Top Speed 50 mph

Advertised Range Up to 100 miles

Technical Accomplishments and Progress

NREL 18624
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Navistar eStar Vehicle Performance

• Evaluate the performance of class 3 

Navistar eStar EVs deployed throughout 

the United States in MD delivery 

applications

• Leverage NREL-developed tools for 

automated data filtering and processing

• Monthly usage has continued to 

increase; 2013-Q4 was the highest yet

Number of vehicles reporting: 101 Number of vehicle days driven: 15,623

Reporting period: (7/1/2012 to 3/31/2014) Number of operating cities: 35

NREL 18624

Trip Data

Overall Diesel Equivalent Fuel Economy 45.7 mpge

Overall AC Electrical Energy Charged 902.6 Wh/mi

Overall DC Electrical Energy Charged 852.8 Wh/mi

Overall DC Electrical Energy Discharged 821.9 Wh/mi

Driving DC Electrical Energy Consumption 741.1 Wh/mi

Total Number of Charge Events 14,473

Total Charge Energy Delivered 269,001.9 kWh

Total Distance Traveled 315,451.9 miles

City | Highway Distance 240,893 | 74,559 miles

City | Highway Distance 76.4 | 23.6 %
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Explore regional and vocational differences

Navistar eStar Vehicle Performance
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Navistar eStar Vehicle Performance

• Seasonal effects primarily driven by the 

energy penalty from the resistive 

heater

• Outputs

o Quarterly reports: 

http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/fle

ettest/research_electric_smith.html

NREL 18624
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Truck Electrification Project

• TSE allows truck operators to stop their engines and pull 

power from the grid for accessory loads that would otherwise 

required extended idle

• All 50 ARRA-funded sites are now operational
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Truck Electrification Project

• Utilization at ARRAfunded locations 

surpassed 40K hours, 

and 28 MWh in CY 

2013

• Offsetting an 

estimated 32,592 

gallons of diesel fuel 

that would have 

otherwise been used 

during idle

Utilization Summary

Idle-reduction rebate approvals: 4,370

Completed equipment installations: 4,353

Number of TSE sites with >90% uptime: 50

Number of plug-in events: 2,703

Total hours booked: 40,740

Total kWh used: 28,089

Average kWh/event: 10.4

Estimated gallons of diesel fuel saved: 32,592

Metric tons of CO2 avoided: 332
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Truck Electrification Project

• Continue to investigate usage 

trends and factors that may 

impact utilization

• Chart on the right shows 

average power draw per event 

as a function of ambient 

temperature

• Seasonally cooler months show 

higher utilization

• Highest weekly use Friday – Sunday

Monthly Utilization Data

2013-Q1 2013-Q2 2013-Q3 2013-Q4

Number of plug-in events: 712 507 787 697

Number of plug-in events using STEP IDs 46 39 62 34

Total hours booked: 14,251 6,560 10,452 9,477

Total kWh used: 9,504 3,790 6,731 8,065

Average energy used per event (kWh): 13.3 7.5 8.6 11.6

Average power per event (kW): 0.667 0.578 0.644 0.851
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Odyne – PHEV Utility Trucks

• Objective

o In-use performance evaluation of Odyne’s electrified 

power-take-off (PTO) hybrid system

o Quantify fuel savings from idle reduction at the jobsite

o Quantify fuel savings from regenerative braking and 

launch assist during normal driving

• Approach

o In-use data supplied by Odyne through EPRI will be 

available soon

o Integrate into NREL’s automated drive cycle analysis and 

reporting database

• System Specifications

o Li-ion batteries from Johnson Controls, 14.2 kWh, 350 lbs

o 320-V electric motor, 69 hp continuous, 107 hp peak

Photo courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC

Photo courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC

Courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC

Courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC

Courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC
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Odyne – Expected Dataset

Driving Charging Staionary

Signal Units

Minimum 

sample rate

Minimum sample 

rate2

Minimum sample 

rate3

Vehicle ID

Timestamp dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm:ss 1 Hz 1 Hz 1 Hz

Operating mode Driving, Charging, 

Stationary

1 Hz 1 Hz 1 Hz

Vehicle speed mph 1 Hz n/a 1 Hz

Odometer miles 1 Hz 1 Hz 1 Hz

Accelerator pedal position % 1 Hz n/a 1 Hz

Brake pedal position or force % or N 1 Hz n/a 1 Hz

Fuel flow or volume L/s or L 1 Hz n/a 1 Hz

Battery pack SOC % 1 Hz once per 60 sec 1 Hz

Battery pack DC power DC W once per 5 sec once per 60 sec once per 5 sec

Charger AC Current AC A n/a once per 60 sec n/a

Charger AC Voltage AC V n/a once per 60 sec n/a

Ambient temperature deg C once per 5 sec once per 600 sec once per 5 sec

Mechanical Air Conditioning Stateon/off once per 5 sec n/a once per 5 sec

Electric Air conditioner state on/off once per 5 sec n/a once per 5 sec

PTO State Boolean n/a n/a 1Hz

Courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC Courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC Courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC

Photo courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC

Photo courtesy of Odyne Systems LLC
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Responses to Previous Year Reviewers’ Comments

Comment #1: 

The reviewer stated that there ought to be a partnership with the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide 

this performance data directly to government fleet managers interested in procuring EVs. Ideally, the data could be 

provided as part of AutoChoice (the system by which fleet managers procure vehicles from GSA). 

Response: In FY14, the PI was able to reach out to the FEMP/GSA coordinator and begin to work with tools to 

understand the duty cycle and usage data for potential GSA vehicles. A specific response will be made available to 

GSA in FY14 that will apply energy usage metrics from the dataset to GSA usage patterns and provide potential GSA 

fleets with more direct performance information for their fleet so they can make better informed decisions.

Comment #2:

The reviewer was looking forward to a deeper analysis of the EV performance data for lessons learned. As stated 

previously, the reviewer was primarily hoping for suggestions to improve the technology and secondarily was 

interested in operational best practices to improve the performance of the existing technology. 

Response: The funding for this project was primarily intended to gather, process, and report on the performance of 

the vehicles as deployed. In FY14, an effort was made to begin to explore EV performance data and factors such as 

environment, cargo load, and drive cycle variability. These analysis efforts begin to explain some of the root causes 

(i.e., such as temperature effect on vehicle range). The dataset is also being made available to the DOE VT Energy 

Storage group to help model and better understand better battery control measures that might affect performance 

and life of the battery. For FY15, a proposal will be made to initiate a cross-cutting analysis of the data to help 

improve performance of the vehicles and/or optimize the use of the vehicles to maximize range and ROI.
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Collaboration and Coordination with Other Institutions

This project absolutely requires industry collaboration required for successful studies. 

Past industry partners included:

Smith, Navistar, Cascade Sierra Solutions, Shorepower, Odyne, SCAQMD, EPRI

FY14 Collaborations & Coordination with Others

Partner Relationship Type VT Program 

or Outside?

Details

Smith Electric Vehicles OEM Partner Government 

Collaboration

VT Program Smith has provided data and data analysis support to make the 

aggregated data available to the public

Navistar OEM Partner Government 

Collaboration

VT Program Navistar has provided data and data analysis support to make the 

aggregated data available to the public

Cascade Sierra Solutions 

& Shorepower

Industry Partner Government 

Collaboration

VT Program Cascade Sierra Solutions has provided data and data analysis support to 

make the aggregated data available to the public

Odyne OEM Partner Government 

Collaboration

VT Program Odyne will provide data and data analysis support to make aggregated 

data available to the public

SCAQMD / EPRI Research Partner Government 

Collaboration

VT Program SCAQMD and EPRI will work together with NREL to acquire analyze and 

make data available.
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Top 2 Remaining Challenges and Barriers

1. Adoption of New EVs into Commercial Fleets

o Fleets remain tentative in procurement based on ROI 

projections – limited rollout of EVs in MD sector

o Effects of “demand charges” adding to costs

2. Unknown Life and Secondary Use of Large 

Commercial EV Battery Systems

o Better understanding and modeling of battery life 

estimations for MD commercial energy storage is needed

o Use of large packs after useful life is mostly unknown
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Proposed Future Work

• FY15 will continue to collect data on Odyne and Smith vehicles

• Navistar and Cascade Sierra Solutions data collection periods will end prior 

to FY15

• New effort in FY15 and FY16 (once all data have been collected) will be 

proposed to use data to analyze opportunity for energy efficiency (range 

improvements), energy storage cost improvements for improved ROI, and 

better placement of vehicles into fleet to optimize ROI

• Analysis will also show seasonal effects of range as well as battery life 

estimations vs. vehicle duty cycle
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Summary

• MD EV data collection and analysis will help drive design, purchase, and 

research investments:

o Making data publically available helps drive development

o Feeding vocational database for future analysis – better understanding 

of usage will result in better design

o Data made available enable more accurate modeling and simulation 

efforts

o Performance of vehicle varies with drive cycle and cargo load – MD 

vehicles are “multi-functional”

o Environment and accessory loads affect vehicle range, add cost by 

adding battery capacity

o MD EV vehicles can function in vocations traditionally serviced by 

gasoline or diesel vehicles

o Facility implications (i.e., demand charges) need to be understood as 

part of site-based analysis for EV implementation
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Acknowledgements and Contacts

Thanks to:

Vehicle & Systems Simulation & Testing Activity – Lee Slezak and David Anderson

Vehicle Technologies Office – U.S. Department of Energy

For more information:

Kevin Walkowicz

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

kevin.walkowicz@nrel.gov

phone: 303.275.4492

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Technical Back-Up Slides

(Note: please include this “separator” slide if 

you are including back-up technical slides 

(maximum of five). These back-up technical 

slides will be available for your presentation 

and will be included in the DVD and Web PDF 

files released to the public.)
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 Data Processing Routine – Receive, Filter, Analyze

Reports available at:

http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/fleettest/

Approach/Strategy
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Results – Compared with Standard Cycles

Navistar

Smith

Technical Accomplishments and Progress
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Results – Driving Variability

Typical daily 

commercial 

operation

More short 

trips from 

Navistar eStar

Technical Accomplishments and Progress
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Results – Charging

Charging begins late 

afternoon to evening

Charging duration is 

longer for Smith vehicles 

Technical Accomplishments and Progress