Swedish Hybrid Vehicle Centre

As a result of societal needs and tighter regulations on emissions, the automotive industry has been challenged during the last few years to lower CO₂-emissions and to decrease the fuel consumption of their vehicles. Significant efforts are put on developing new concepts for vehicle propulsion, and the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is the most prominent example of this. Hybrid technology and hybrid electric vehicles are clearly spelled out to be a strategically important part of future activities of automotive industries located in Sweden.

Considering the rapid development in the alternative propulsion area in general and the hybrid electric vehicles in particular, the initiative to form the Swedish Hybrid Vehicle Centre (SHC) is a timely response to the need to join forces between Swedish industry and academia in this field.

The Swedish Hybrid Vehicle Centre has three different partners: The Swedish Energy Agency, Swedish Universities (Chalmers University of Technology, the Royal Institute of Technology and Lund University), and Swedish Automotive manufacturers (AB Volvo, Scania CV AB, Saab Automobile AB/GM Powertrain Sweden AB, Volvo Car Corporation, BAE Systems Hägglunds AB). The initiative is meant to be a 10-year commitment by the partners, with a first phase extending over a 4-year period. Chalmers will act as a ‘hub’ of the distributed centre.

The centre emphasizes a holistic view of the problem area to meet the environmental and societal needs with new technological solutions, thus prioritizing a systems perspective of the hybrid electric vehicle. The research work is initially divided into three different sub fields, assumed to be crucial for a successful development of hybrid electric vehicles: System studies and tools (which includes methods for simulation, control and diagnostics), Electric machines and drives and Energy storage (with a focus on the development of lithium-based battery systems).

For more information about SHC contact Professor Lennart Josefson at lennart.josefson@chalmers.se or visit www.chalmers.se/shc.

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