BOARD MEETING DATE: February 2, 2007
AGENDA NO. 4

Execute Contract to Cosponsor Demonstration and Evaluation of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Utility Boom Truck and Amend Contract For Demonstration of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vans in AQMD Fleet

SYNOPSIS:

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), with project partners Eaton and Ford, propose to develop and demonstrate plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) utility trucks.  The program will develop plug-in hybrid technology for the Ford F-550 truck chassis as a utility boom truck with demonstrations at Southern California Edison, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Pacific Gas & Electric.  This action is to participate in this $1.6 million project with cofunding not to exceed $300,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund.  Additional funding not to exceed $151,950 from the Clean Fuels Fund is also requested to supplement an existing EPRI project to demonstrate five gasoline PHEV DaimlerChrysler Sprinter vans in the AQMD fleet.  These five vans are part of a $12 million program to demonstrate thirty pre-commercial PHEV Sprinter vans in fleet demonstrations throughout North America and Europe.  The additional AQMD funding will be used to design and modify the delivery vans for passenger service.

COMMITTEE:

Technology, January 26, 2007, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Authorize the Chairman to

1. Execute a contract with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for the development and demonstration of plug-in hybrid electric utility boom trucks in an amount not to exceed $300,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund; and
2. Amend the existing contract with EPRI to provide additional funding not to exceed $151,950 from the Clean Fuels Fund for the demonstration and evaluation of five plug-in gasoline-fueled hybrid electric passenger vans for use in AQMD’s fleet.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

On April 7, 2006, the Governing Board directed staff to expand the AQMD’s plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) program by developing new technology application projects and increasing the outreach efforts regarding PHEV benefits.  As part of these efforts, staff proposes two projects for consideration.

The first project is the development and demonstration of a PHEV utility boom truck.  EPRI and its electric utility members have identified utility boom trucks as an application well suited for plug-in technology.  These utility boom trucks are widely used to service elevated electric distribution wiring and idle their main engines to provide power during these operations.  The resulting idling emissions, however, are disruptive to residential areas and expose the operators to exhaust for extended periods.  A previous AQMD cofunded project with Southern California Edison developed a prototype plug-in hybrid electric utility service truck with an LPG fueled microturbine, and showed the potential benefits of PHEV in this type of application.  The manner in which various hybrid vehicle components are sized, packaged, fueled, and controlled, can substantially impact the air quality benefits from these vehicles.

The second is to amend the existing EPRI-DaimlerChrysler Sprinter Van project to allow wider outreach with the resulting vehicles.  AQMD is currently funding the development and demonstration of five DaimlerChrysler pre-commercial PHEV Sprinter vans in AQMD fleet service.  These vehicles are part of a larger project to deploy 30 vans worldwide to assess and demonstrate the commercial viability of the technology.  However, the existing Sprinter Van design is for delivery or utility applications; the AQMD has successfully convinced DaimlerChrysler that passenger vans would allow another market application and provide a larger outreach opportunity.  The current request is to fund the needed design and modifications required to convert the five AQMD vans to passenger service.

Proposals

PHEV Utility Boom Truck
EPRI and utility demonstration partners propose to develop and demonstrate a plug-in hybrid electric truck, with integration led by Eaton and support from Ford.  The Ford F550 regular cab truck platform was selected with either the 6.8L V10 gasoline or 6.0L V8 diesel engine.  This Ford platform is currently used for routine utility service or for “trouble” service by the utility demonstration partners.  The F-550 Truck Chassis is used in multiple urban delivery applications and represents a large share of the stop and go diesel market.  A PHEV version would have an important emission reduction impact. 

The PHEV truck will be designed to achieve project goals including reduced fuel consumption, reduced emissions, and reduced operating costs compared to stock vehicle.  It will provide equivalent or superior performance to the base truck in all modes including full cabin air conditioning while operating all accessory loads.  It will be able to use grid electricity for part of the vehicle’s daily duty cycle and incorporate regenerative braking with four-wheel drive capability.  The PHEV truck will be capable of 30 kW of standby AC generation capacity and standby operation time of at least six hours, running the bucket, power tools, lights, and accessories without the need to run the engine.  It will include advanced battery packaging, charging, and cooling systems lasting the intended vehicle life of five years.  The final design will consider manufacturability, vehicle integration with minimal rework, component costs, and durability to enable approvability by Ford MVE engineering as a ship-thru product and migration of this powertrain to similar class commercial vehicles.

EPRI will work with Eaton to apply modeling to this 17,500 GVW plug-in hybrid prototype based on the current work underway to build an Eaton hybrid 30,000 GVW truck.  Ford will provide the base truck for the prototype in-kind.  Eaton will provide their current hybrid control module, which will need to be modified and integrated for this PHEV application.  The project team including EPRI, Ford, and John Deere, guided by Eaton, will select a system integrator (such as Ford Tier 1 supplier ASG Renaissance) capable of acting as a Qualified Vehicle Modifier for the Ford F550 chassis to perform many of the conversion tasks.

The utility demonstration group includes Southern California Edison (SCE), Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP), and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG& E).  PG& E, SCE and LADWP will each test the first PHEV utility truck prototype for a defined period and help generate and finalize vehicle specifications.  This proposed project will provide funding for the design and development of the gasoline and diesel prototypes; AQMD funding will be directed to the gasoline version.  The vehicle will be designed so that the assigned operator will be able to plug-in to fully recharge the truck at night.  As part of this project, PG& E and SCE will demonstrate diesel PHEVs, and PG& E and LADWP will demonstrate gasoline PHEVs.  Additional funding from CARB and other entities is being pursued to add 46 more demonstration vehicles in the US and Canada.

PHEV Passenger Sprinter Van
Additional funding not to exceed $151,950 from the Clean Fuels Fund is also requested to supplement an existing EPRI project to demonstrate five gasoline PHEV DaimlerChrysler Sprinter vans in the AQMD fleet.  These five vans are part of a $12M program to demonstrate 30 pre-commercial PHEV Sprinter vans in fleet demonstrations throughout North America and Europe.  Although the majority of the 30 pre-commercial PHEV Sprinter vans will be delivery vans suitable for parcel delivery applications and electric utility user needs, AQMD and at least two of the other demonstration fleets need passenger vans.  This vocation not only has potential market benefits in the shuttle-service and vanpool applications, but also allows greater opportunities for outreach by providing greater ride-n-drive capability.  The additional AQMD funding will be used to manufacture the delivery vans for passenger service, including windows, bench seating, and rear air-conditioning.  DaimlerChrysler is contributing the design costs in-kind, but each fleet demonstration partner is requested to provide the per vehicle cost.  In addition to the $17,000 per passenger van cost, an additional $66,950 is requested for the base cost of the five vans to match the cost per van provided by the rest of the demonstration partners, for a total of $151,950.

Benefits to AQMD

Successful completion of these projects will result in growing recognition of the business value of PHEVs, increase fleet and consumer demand for PHEVs and the development of commercial products for Ford and DaimlerChrysler.  The PHEV technology developed in this program for utility service trucks is anticipated to have wide applicability to Class 1-5 commercial vehicles (both gasoline and diesel powered).  The proposed projects were included in the March 2006 update of the Technology Advancement Plan in the category “Develop and Demonstrate Medium- and Heavy-Duty Hybrid Vehicles and Systems.”

Sole Source Justification

Section VIII.B.2. of the Procurement Policy and Procedure identifies four major provisions under which a sole source award may be justified.  This request for a sole source award is made under provision B.2.d.: Other circumstances exist which in the determination of the Executive Officer require such waiver in the best interest of the AQMD.  Specifically, these circumstances are B.2.d.(1): Project involving cost sharing by multiple sponsors.

EPRI, founded in 1973 as a non-profit energy research consortium, manages a far-reaching program of scientific research, technology development, and product implementation and has a long history of managing and supporting similar projects involving development and commercialization of new technologies.  The team brought together by EPRI has significant experience in vehicle development, modeling, test cycle evaluation, emissions and performance assessment, and new technology commercialization.  The AQMD contribution to this project is leveraged at a ratio of better than 11 to 1 with other partners.

Resource Impacts

PHEV Utility Boom Truck
The total cost to develop and demonstrate PHEV utility trucks is approximately $5 million.  The amount of AQMD funding shall not exceed $300,000 to participate in the program.  Cost-sharing will be provided from the following sources:

PHEV Passenger Sprinter Van
The total cost to demonstrate 30 PHEV vans has increased to approximately $12.2 million.  The amount of AQMD funding for this amendment shall not exceed $151,950, with the total AQMD funding for the project not to exceed $1,085,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund.  The project partners and their anticipated amount of cost-share are reflected in the table below:

Sufficient funds are available from the Clean Fuels Fund, established as a special revenue fund resulting from the state-mandated Cleans Fuels Program.  The Clean Fuels Program, under Health and Safety Code Sections 40448.5 and 40512 and Vehicle Code Section 9250.11, establishes mechanisms to collect revenues from mobile sources to support projects to increase the utilization of clean fuels, including the development of the necessary advanced enabling technologies.  Funds collected from motor vehicles are restricted, by statute, to be used for projects and program activities related to mobile sources that support the objectives of the Clean Fuels Program.