Novel Compound Rotary Engine Range Extender for Electric Vehicles

Project Information

CREEV

Grant agreement ID: 733967

DOI

10.3030/733967

Project closed

EC signature date 14 July 2016

Start date 1 August 2016

End date 30 November 2018

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 990 962,50

EU contribution

€ 693 673,75

Coordinated by

ADVANCED INNOVATIVE ENGINEERING (UK) LIMITED
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CREEV (Novel Compound Rotary Engine Range Extender for Electric Vehicles)

Reporting period: 2017-08-01 to 2018-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Road transport contributes about one-fifth of the EU's total CO2 emissions. Greater adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) would positively impact reductions in CO2 emissions, but range anxiety remains a key barrier2 to mass-uptake. When selecting a car, 44% of drivers consider emissions to be important3, but only 5% would actually buy an EV due to range concerns. Better methods for extending range are needed to allow the EV market to reach its full potential.

This project seeks to successfully demonstrate and scale up for market readiness, a novel, high efficiency, low emission, compact rotary engine range extender for electric vehicles. Electric vehicles (EV) are emerging as the future of transport as they break the dependence on fossil fuels and offer significant advantages in terms of noise and local air pollution. However, uptake has been poor so far due to range anxiety.

Automotive manufacturers have addressed this issue through the installation of range extender engines. However, existing extenders tend to be too large with poor power density, limiting their use in small commercial and domestic vehicles where space is at a premium. The clear business opportunity is to provide tier 1 automotive powertrain providers and OEMs with breakthrough innovation in EV range extender technology that significantly improves power density whilst providing high efficiency, low emissions, low noise and low vibration to meet consumer needs. Our solution, CREEV, takes the inherent advantages of rotary (Wankel) type engines for such compact applications and applies patent protected innovations to overcome efficiency and reliability issues to deliver an engine exactly matched to OEM needs.

Through application of innovative technology, CREEV delivers a step-change in range extender technology. Its features will deliver improved range to EVs, providing quiet, compact operation with lower fuel consumption and emissions compared to the existing state of the art

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In terms of the project objectives, these were created by AIE based on our understanding of what be ideal for the range extender market at that time. Some of these objectives were exceeded (such as output power) and in other cases, some objectives were not met (such as mass):
• Power - 14% increase (18.32kW to 21.39kW) at 5500rpm from previous Gen1 expander.
• BSFC - 21% decrease (288.83 g/kWh to 238.7 g/kWh) at 5500rpm from previous Gen1 expander.
• Weight - 96kg from intended 60kg, frame weight was compromised due to availability of steel instead of using aluminium. The frame was intentional oversized for future development of different power electronic hardware.
• Noise - 89.8db to 65db, further muffler system required. Vehicle strategy needs to be determined to understand what engine rpm is required for charging while doing a drive by 65db test.
• Emission - High hydrocarbon emission requires further tuning of oil consumption.
We have maintained a flexible and pragmatic approach to the design/operation of the extender, to ensure it is commercially attractive. Despite some of our original objectives being somewhat optimistic, we have achieved significant performance increases over previous generations of our technology.
Overall, we believe that the project has been an overwhelming success, producing a range extender with excellent market potential, which has been confirmed by one of the UK’s largest motor manufacturers, plus a significant US based aerospace company.
We are currently in discussions to move towards full commercialisation and expect to build on this success to deliver commercial/environmental benefits to broader industry stakeholders.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

CREEV will reduce anxiety among potential electric car buyers about the range electric cars can travel with its compact & efficient, low-emission range extender. As a result, more people will buy them and this will impact on the environment by reducing CO2 emissions.

Inserting CREEV technology into LCVs makes them attractive to commercial fleets, for whom hours of recharging a battery is economically unattractive. This would mean a higher proportion of LCVs on the road compared to petrol and diesel cars and a reduction in CO2 emissions.

We have begun producing papers, case studies, tutorials and other publications targeting key decision-makers in the industry, build confidence in the CREEV product.

The CREEV technology will reduce noise pollution as rotary engines reduce overall engine noise as exhaust gases passing through the system are released cooler and as close to atmospheric pressure as possible, generating significantly less noise. CREEV harnesses additional energy from exhaust emissions that would be lost. By increasing the expansion stroke of the engine through recovered unburnt fuel in exhaust gases, CREEV generates more power and thermal efficiency, reducing fuel consumption and exhaust emissions within a lighter, compact package. CREEV provides a unique solution for the further development of low emission vehicles, our expander unit is specifically designed to consume unburnt exhaust products while expansion occurs, resulting in lower overall emissions for a cleaner, greener experience. This environmentally friendly solution not only reduces carbon emissions but also fuel costs by recouping exhaust energy and reducing fuel consumption.

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