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Ricardo's 'HyTrans' Leads the Way in Improving Delivery Vehicle Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emissions

SHOREHAM-BY-SEA, West Sussex, England, Feb. 26, 2004 -- Ricardo today formally launched its 1.2 million pounds sterling HyTrans project which it will carry out in partnership with Ford Motor Company, Valeo SA and the Gates Corporation. The project aims to demonstrate technologies for an affordable and production-feasible micro-hybrid diesel delivery vehicle based on the existing Ford Transit. In what will be Europe's first micro-hybrid delivery van, the partners expect to achieve a 15-25 percent improvement in fuel consumption over typical door-to-door, real world local delivery cycles.

The HyTrans project is expected to take approximately one year to complete and to lead to a demonstrator vehicle based on a Ford Transit which will:

* Have fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of around 15-25 percent better than current production vehicles based on an urban delivery cycle featuring frequent stop/starts;

* Be of comparable performance and driveability to current products;

* Represent an 'affordable' engineering solution which has the potential for implementation in products; and

* Have an uncompromised package with no reduction in payload capacity or space.

To achieve a significant reduction in fuel consumption under driving conditions with frequent stops typical of a local delivery van, the HyTrans vehicle will include an automatic engine stop/start capability together with a regenerative braking system which will capture valuable energy that would otherwise be lost during braking. An advanced energy management supervisory control system will ensure the optimum use of Ford's latest 2.0-liter common rail 92kW (125PS) diesel engine and Valeo belt-driven combined starter- alternator system which Ford refers to as an Integrated Starter Generator System (ISG).

"With the technologies envisaged for the HyTrans demonstrator we anticipate being able to achieve an improvement in fuel consumption in the region of 15 and 25 percent based on urban stop/start," said Ricardo technology director, Neville Jackson. "We also expect an overall improvement of approximately 5 percent over the New European Drive Cycle."

Ricardo is the HyTrans project leader and has responsibilities for vehicle modeling, control system design and integration of the micro-hybrid system. Specific tasks include:

* Concept evaluation, including simulation of hardware options, performance and fuel consumption over both European and urban delivery drive cycles;

* Advanced supervisory control system implementation to minimize fuel consumption;

  *  Electrical system architecture and layout;
  *  Vehicle layout, thermal studies and refinement;
  *  Packaging and vehicle build; and
  *  Calibration and shakedown testing.

The bulk of the research and development work will be undertaken at Ricardo's technology center at Shoreham, UK.

Ford's role is to supply the baseline vehicle, which has been built at the company's Southampton plant. Ford will test the vehicle at its European research and advanced engineering center at Aachen, Germany, based on a developed urban delivery drive cycle representative of real world measured driving schedules. Ford will also input into a high level Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) of the micro-hybrid concept.

Valeo's role in the program is to supply the belt-driven, combined starter-alternator system including the electrical machine and the power electronics, as well as DC-DC converter and Battery Management and Disconnect Unit (BMDU). The Tier 1 supplier will also provide baseline component specifications, performance and packaging data for the electrical components as well as engineering support for the electrical systems, control strategy and systems integration in addition to a sub-system FMEA study.

Gates' role is the design and supply of a belt-drive system, based on the company's Electro-Mechanical Drive (EMD) technology which employs new, high load capacity belts and a tensioner design able to deal with the unique demands of these systems. The component supplier will also provide a sub- system FMEA study.

The HyTrans project is jointly funded by the project partners who between them are meeting half of the costs in the form of materials and engineering resources, with matching funds provided by the UK Department for Transport. The Energy Saving Trust will administer this funding by providing grants through its TransportEnergy New Vehicle Technology Fund. The HyTrans project was formally announced today by David Jamieson MP, Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Transport, during a visit to Ford's Southampton Transit van assembly plant.

With technical centers in the UK, USA, Germany and the Czech Republic, Ricardo is a leading independent technology provider and strategic consultant to the world's automotive industries. The company's engineering expertise ranges from vehicle systems integration, controls, electronics and software development, to the latest driveline and transmission systems and gasoline, diesel, hybrid and fuel cell powertrain technologies. Its customers include the world's major vehicle, engine and transmission manufacturers, tier 1 suppliers and leading motorsport teams.

Ricardo is committed to excellence and industry leadership in people, technology and knowledge. A public company, Ricardo plc posted sales of 137 million pounds sterling in fiscal year 2003 and is a constituent of the FTSE techMark 100 index -- a group of innovative technology companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.