Green Vehicles

Objectives

The objective of a Green Vehicles course is to provide students with knowledge and skills related to sustainable transportation and environmentally-friendly vehicles. The course aims to educate students on the different types of green vehicles available, such as electric cars, hybrid cars, and fuel cell vehicles, as well as their advantages and limitations. The course will provide data and tools to the student to understand a vehicle's environmental impact and the actual vehicle options and features.

The course may cover topics such as the environmental impact of transportation, energy sources and efficiency, vehicle design and technology, infrastructure requirements, and policies and regulations related to green vehicles. It may also include practical exercises and projects to allow students to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world scenarios.For example:

• Understanding emissions: life cycle emissions, vehicle emissions, real world emissions.
• Learn about the different type of emissions vehicle produce.
• Understand life cycle assessment and vehicle's emissions across its lifetime.

Vehicle life cycle assessment will be included in the course, by including LCA in a green vehicle course, students can gain a deeper understanding of the environmental impact of green vehicles and the potential trade-offs associated with different design choices and policy decisions. This knowledge can help to inform the development of more sustainable transportation systems.

Overall, the goal of a Green Vehicles course is to prepare students for careers in the emerging field of sustainable transportation and to contribute to the development of a more environmentally-friendly transportation system.

Learning outcomes

• LO8. Learns about the different types of vehicles considered green.
• LO9. Evaluates the positive and negative characteristics of the different types of green vehicles.
• LO10. Learns about the main environmental regulations applicable in the automotive sector.
• LO11. Applies techniques of life cycle analysis (LCA) to assess the environmental impact associated with a vehicle.

Competencies

Specific skills

• Know about and apply the principles of production systems and manufacturing processes, metrology and quality control and environmental and sustainability technology in engineering and the automotive sector.
• Understand the concept of enterprise and its institutional, legal and economic framework, and use resources for organisation, management and quality management of companies; know about organisational structure and functions of an engineering project office, and know how to use techniques to organise, manage and lead projects.
• Understand the principles of materials science, technology and chemistry, and the relationship between microstructure, synthesis and processing, and properties, and use this knowledge to solve problems in automotive engineering; understand the principles of strength and elasticity of materials, and apply this to the behaviour of real solids.
• Work in a multilingual, multidisciplinary environment, and make oral presentations and write reports in English in the field of engineering, in general, and in the automotive sector, in particular.

Basic skills

• Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) in order to make judgements that include reflection on relevant social, scientific and ethical issues.

Core skills

• Exercise active citizenship and individual responsibility with a commitment to the values of democracy, sustainability and universal design, through practice based on learning, service and social inclusion.

Content

1. Introduction to green vehicle concept
2. Life cycle assessment of vehicles and products
   • Vehicle emissions across its lifetime
3. Hybrid, electric and fuel-cell vehicles
   • ICE powertrains
   • Electrification and hybridization concept
   • HEV architectures and components
   • Hybrid powertrains
   • Electric powertrains
   • Fuel-cell vehicles
   • Other hydrogen type of vehicles
   • Technological trends
4. Automotive energy storage and recovery systems
   • Batteries, ultra-capacitors, flywheels and hydraulic accumulators
   • The role of energy recovery systems in vehicles
   • Fuel cells
   • System design, integration and energy management
5. Overview of different charging systems
   • Different charging modes
   • Types of plugs and charging points
   • Alternative charging options
6. Safety
   • Electrical risks
   • Chemical risks
   • Fire hazard
   • Personal protective equipment
7. Green vehicles case study
8. Future mobility and transportation
9. Environmental impact, government policy, infrastructure, social dimensions, European and international standards in the automotive
10. Energy resources and needs

Evaluation

The assessment structure adapts to the pedagogical approach, so that conventional knowledge examinations are combined with a comprehensive assessment of the acquisition of expected skills and attitudes as learning outcomes.

What we expect from you:

• As a student we expect you to be an active participant in this course, contributing to a positive atmosphere by engaging in meaningful discussions where knowledge is exchanged.
• Attend to the rules to have a pleasant experience for everyone.
• Be constructive in your feedback and whenever possible provide suggestions for improvement.
• Learning is about collaboration, interaction.
• When commenting on work of others be positive and constructive.
• Be sensitive to your peers' background and culture.
• We encourage debate and discussion but only when this is done in a polite and respectful manner.

The previous criterion that every student must meet to access to be evaluated is attendance at a minimum of 87% of the sessions.

Once this percentage has been reached, the evaluation will be carried out applying the following criteria:

• [A] Final exam: 20%
• [B] Mid-term exam: 20%
• [C] Continuous assessment: 45%
  • Group exercises and class presentations
  • Online exercises
• [E] Class evaluation: 10%
  • Class exercises
  • Class interaction

The passing grade for this subject is 5.

Section A and B are recoverable only once.

Methodology

The methodology of the subject will be developed according to the relation of activities proposed.

Teaching and learning methodology include:

• Exercises
• Lectures
• Independent study
• Video lectures discussing the different topics
• Assignments to test the knowledge on the topic
• Additional learning material to support the lectures and assignments
• Case studies and/or "discussion topics"

Due the course is mainly theoretical, some exercises will be done during class, magazines reading and lectures will be part of the student tasks.

Throughout the course, exercises will be proposed for students to be solved at home and must be submitted. The resolution of these exercises is key to properly follow the subject and pass the exams favourably.

Bibliography

Key references

• Chris Mi, ‎M. Abul Masrur (2017). Hybrid Electric Vehicles: Principles and applications with practical prespectives (2 ed.). Wiley.
• Mehrdad Ehsani, ‎Yimin Gao, ‎Stefano Longo, Kambiz Ebrahimi (2018). Modern Electric, Hybrid Electric, and Fuel Cell Vehicles (3 ed.). CRC Press.
• Richard Stone (2012). Introduction to Combustion Engines (4 ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Robert Bosch GmbH (2019). Bosch Automotive Handbook (10 ed.). Wiley.
• Tom Denton (2020). Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (2 ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.

Further reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.