Appendices to: Compliance by Design: Industry Response to Energy Efficiency Standards

AVL Powertrain Engineering, Inc. (AVL) is an independent company specializing in the development of powertrain systems, simulation methods, and engine instrumentation and test systems. The vehicle simulation software Cruise, developed by AVL, is commonly used by automotive original equipment manufacturers to aid in powertrain development (Mayer, 2008). Cruise simulates vehicle-driving performance, fuel consumption, and emissions based on kinematic calculations. Cruise models the physical dynamics that occur between subsystems in a vehicle, which translate inputs from a driver into motion of the vehicle. For example, as Figure A1 shows, the Engine module is physically connected to the modules making up the transmission, which include the Torque Converter, Gear Box, Final Drive, and Differential modules. The Combustion Engine module calculates the fuel consumption, speed, and torque of the engine based on user inputs, such as fuel consumption maps, and input information from other vehicle subsystems, including the load on the acceleration pedal from the Cockpit (driver) module and the external temperature from the Vehicle module. It then transmits information about the torque and speed to the transmission modules. The modular structure of Cruise allows researchers to simulate multiple vehicle architectures by customizing the subsystem modules (e.g., front or rear wheel drive, automatic or manual transmissions), and modifying various input parameters. For example, with the Vehicle module, a user can adjust the