Draft SOW (693JJ921RQ000215).pdf

Draft SOW: Fuel Economy Technology Effectiveness and Cost - Light Duty

SECTION C – DESCRIPTION/ SPECIFICATIONS/ WORK STATEMENT

C.1 INTRODUCTION

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) as codified in Chapter 329 of Title 49 of the U.S.

Code, and as amended by Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), sets forth extensive requirements for NHTSA’s establishment of new CAFE standards for passenger automobiles (hereinafter referred to as “passenger cars”) and non-passenger automobiles (hereinafter referred to as “light trucks”). EPCA requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish average fuel economy standards at least 18 months before the beginning of each model year and to set them at “the maximum feasible average fuel economy level that the Secretary decides the manufacturers can achieve in that model year.”1 When setting “maximum feasible” fuel economy standards, the Secretary is required to “consider technological feasibility, economic practicability, the effect of other motor vehicle standards of the Government on fuel economy, and the need of the United States to conserve energy.”2 NHTSA construes the statutory factors as including environmental and safety considerations.

To support this mission NHTSA continuously gathers information about current and future technologies that may be employed to meet future fuel economy standards. Performance information is used a inform future rule making efforts. Gathered information on fuel economy technology performance and cost is used to create reasonable inputs for the NHTSA CAFE analysis, which consists of a family of models designed to predict the effects of potential future rule making actions.

NHTSA is looking for a contractor to perform vehicle component characterization, benchmarking, and costing analysis of representative light duty (LD) vehicle fuel economy improving components.

Components being considered include, but are not limited to, vehicle engines, transmissions, final drives, drive motors, control systems, accessories, and thermal management systems.

C.2 BACKGROUND

In 2020, NHTSA finalized a CAFE rulemaking setting fuel economy standards for model year 2021- 2026 vehicles. In support of the rulemaking, NHTSA evaluated many current and future technologies that may be employed to meet future fuel economy standards. As a result of both the increasing fuel economy requirements and independent technological advancements, vehicle technology has advanced rapidly and its application has spread across multiple vehicle classes.

Historically NHTSA has leveraged a variety of sources to provide information on fuel economy improving technologies’ performance and cost.3 To keep up with the development of evolving vehicle systems, and continue to collect the latest information on technologies that could be considered in future analysis, NHTSA is seeking to add to the pool of research.

1 42 U.S.C. § 32902(a).

2 49 U.S.C. § 32902(f).

3 For example, NHTSA has funded multiple studies by the National Research Council, including a study published in 2015. (National Research Council. 2015. Cost, Effectiveness, and Deployment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press)

C.3 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this effort is to collect and validate performance data for representative examples of LD vehicle fuel efficiency improving technologies, the cost for those systems or components and, in some cases, other vehicles systems impacted by those components. The data collected must have a fidelity-level and format to support future NHTSA CAFE modeling and analysis.

C.4 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The contractor shall provide the personnel and facilities required to perform a general survey of LD vehicle fuel economy technologies, and, based on the results of the technology-survey, perform baseline testing, and tear down and costing on selected components.

C.5 DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS

The following is a list of key definitions and acronyms used throughout the Statement of Work (SOW).

This list may not be exhaustive.

C.5.1 Acronyms

AT Automatic Transmission BOM Bill of Materials CAFE Corporate Average Fuel Economy CD Compact Disk CFR Code of Federal Regulations CO Contracting Officer COR Contract Officer’s Representative CS Contracting Specialist CVT Continuous Variable Transmission DOT U.S. Department of Transportation DCT Dual Clutch Transmission DVD Digital Video Disk EISA Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 EPCA Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 LD Light Duty (Vehicle) MY Model Year (Vehicle) NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration MT Manual Transmission SAE Society of Automotive Engineers SOW Statement of Work SUV Sports Utility Vehicle Volpe John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

C.6 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall perform a paper study identifying LD vehicle fuel saving technologies that have the potential for mass market production during the next 10 years (2021-2031). The Contractor shall recommend, from the identified technologies, advanced LD fuel efficiency improving technologies for testing, benchmarking and costing.

The Contractor shall, in coordination with the Government, select LD vehicle components for testing and evaluation. Components for evaluation will likely include, but are not limited to: vehicle engines, transmissions, final drives, drive motors, control systems, accessories, active aerodynamics, and thermal management systems

The Contractor shall then evaluate and characterize representative samples of the selected automotive systems offered by the latest (MY2020 or newer) light duty vehicles in the North American market. All tests shall be conducted on the latest version of a manufacturer’s or supplier’s system or component that is selected for testing. The Contractor shall be responsible for using current science and engineering techniques (including current testing or evaluation techniques as described in SAE literature or current

CFR).

The Contractor shall provide a technical report for each of the technologies evaluated at the end of each contracting period. Submission of the technical reports will include support of a peer review process performed by NHTSA.

C.7 SPECIFIC TASKS

There are four major tasks required for the base period effort. Each of the optional period efforts will only include tasks 2 thru 4.

C.7 BASE PERIOD TASKS

Task 1 Light Duty Vehicle Technology Survey Task 2 Light Duty Technology Benchmarking Task 3 Light Duty Technology Tear Down and Costing Task 4 Program Management and Meetings

C.7.1 Task 1 – Light Duty Vehicle Technology Survey Within 4 months of contract award the contractor shall provide the final draft of technical report providing a survey of LD fuel efficient technologies that are anticipated to have a major influence on the United States domestic vehicle fleet over the next 10 years. Once received the Government will have 30 days to conduct a review of the technology survey and return all comments, questions and concerns to the Contractor. The Contractor will then have 30 days to address any identified questions and concerns and submit a final report.

The priority of the report is to capture information about future technologies, and is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all technologies currently available. The report should, at a minimum, provide a list of anticipated technologies across five major categories, engine and engine accessories, transmissions, electrification, aerodynamics, and mass reduction.

• Engine and engine accessories – Include a discussion on major engine technology trends and potential for future development. An assessment of manufacturers’ current technologies should also be included.

• Transmissions – Include a discussion on trends in transmission technology, and an overview of manufacturers’ current technologies.

• Electrification –Include a discussion major trends for incorporation of electrification into hybrid vehicle designs. Battery technologies and projected trends should also be discussed.

• Aerodynamics – A brief discussion of new aerodynamic approaches used by manufacturers. Specifically note active, versus passive aerodynamic elements and their relative prominence.

• Mass Reduction – Include a discussion on manufacturers’ approaches to mass reduction on the LD fleet. A general discussion on the use of high strength steel, aluminum, carbon fiber or other composites should also be included.

C.7.2 Task 2 – Light Duty Technology Benchmarking The survey data from Task 1 will be used to select the technologies that will be benchmarked as part of Task 2. The selection of the technologies for benchmarking is expected to be a collaborative process between the Government and the Contractor.

• A minimum of three technologies will be selected for baselining in the base period and a minimum of three additional technologies will be selected as part of each option period.

• Baselining for the selected component will include, at a minimum, collecting operational data sufficient to simulate the system in the Autonomie modeling tool.4

• The contractor shall coordinate receipt of a vehicle from NHTSA with the specified system to be baselined

• The contractor shall develop a test plan and receive concurrence from NHTSA.

Testing should include applicable SAE or CFR defined testing to support fuel economy modeling. The objective of testing should be collect appropriate data for system modeling

• The contractor shall conduct testing according to the developed test plan.

• The contractor shall create a technical report for each technology benchmarked documenting testing methods and reporting collected performance data.

o The contractor shall deliver a final draft of the report within 30 days of the final test data collection for a component or system.

o The Government will have 15 days to review the technical report and provide the comments, questions and other feedback to the contractor.

o The contractor will then have a maximum of 15 days to incorporate any changes or suggestions resulting from the review

C.7.3 Task 3 – Light Duty Technology Tear Down and Costing The survey data from Task 1 will be used to select the technologies that will be torn down and costed as part of Task 3

4 Argonne National Laboratory, Energy Systems Division, "A Detailed Vehicle Simulation Process To Support CAFE and CO2 Standards for the MY 2021 – 2026 Final Rule Analysis", ANL/ESD-19/9

• The tear down will include disassembly of the major components, weight analysis, general description of function, and discussion of fuel efficient and performance related features.

• The costing analysis shall include a BOM breakdown of costs for the technology.

• The contractor shall create a technical report for each teardown and costing study.

o The contractor shall deliver a final draft of the report within 30 days of the final data collection for a component, or system.

o The Government will have 15 days to perform a review of the technical report and provide comments, questions and other feedbackto the contractor.

o The contractor will then have a maximum of 15 days to incorporate any changes or suggestions resulting from the review

• As an option, the teardown and costing report can be incorporated into the baseline technical report created for each technology as described in Task 2.

C.7.4 Task 4 – Program Management and Meetings The contractor shall provide program management support for this effort. Program management support includes designation of a project manager, development of technical milestones to support program monitoring, and a master program schedule based on the contract’s period of performance. The contractor shall also provide a monthly report to the CO and COR, reflecting progress toward identified milestones and schedule.

The contractor shall support the technical milestone meetings described in Table 1. The contractor shall also support a monthly program progress teleconference where the monthly progress report will be reviewed. In all cases, the Government reserves the right to hold the meetings as a video/tele conferences instead of in-person meetings.

Table 1: Technical Milestone Meetings Meeting Description

Kick-Off Meeting Within ten (10) business days after Order award, the Contractor shall meet with NHTSA’s Contracting Officer (CO), Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), and other interested NHTSA and DOT personnel in Washington, D.C. (at NHTSA Headquarters) in order to discuss:

• The administration of the Task Order

• The Task Order’s objectives

• Planned course of action, schedule, milestones and deliverables

• Any other issues the Contractor or Government identifies that relate to the performance of this effort.

During the kick-off meeting:

• The Contractor shall name and introduce the project manager and key personnel.

• The Contractor shall conduct a short briefing describing the Contractor’s planned approach to the Task Order.

• The Contractor, COR, CO and other NHTSA and DOT personnel will discuss specific technical details of the project as well as administrative matters.

Technology Selection Meeting

Within 4 months of initial contract award, and within 1 month of subsequent period awards the Contractor shall meet with NHTSA’s Contracting Officer (CO), Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), and other interested NHTSA and DOT personnel in Washington, D.C. (at NHTSA Headquarters) in order to discuss:

• Technologies to be baselined during the current period effort

• The potential for new technologies that may not have been covered under Task 1 Test Plan Review Before the contractor begins baseline testing on any components, the test plan must be presented to the Government for review and sign off.

Preliminary Data Review

Within 10 days of the final test on a technology, the contractor must provide a preliminary review of test data briefing to the Government.

Final Data Review

A final data review meeting will be held in conjunction with the delivery of each of the final draft reports discussed in Task 2 and Task 3.

Final Program Review

A minimum of 30 days prior to the end of the period of performance the Contractor shall meet with NHTSA’s Contracting Officer (CO), Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), and other interested NHTSA and DOT personnel in Washington, D.C. (at NHTSA Headquarters) in order to discuss:

• Establish final tasks to ensure proper close-out of effort

• Lessons learned from the program

• Any final issues or concerns regarding task execution.