Emissions advantages

Volvo Cars claims upgrades to its emissions laboratory have paid dividends in lower fuel consumption and reduced carbon dioxide emissions across its DRIVe range.

The emissions laboratory is used for testing throughout all stages of the vehicle development process.

When a design aspect such as the engine parameters has been optimised for reducing emissions, the result is verified by performing a test in the emissions laboratory and this process is repeated until optimal results are obtained.

For the DRIVe range, updated engine mapping and rolling resistance were tested and confirmed at the facility.

Laboratory technical manager Alexander Petrofski said: ‘Many parameters in the vehicle have great impact on CO2 emissions and this requires close attention to many of the systems that we normally do not connect to classic emissions testing.

‘Take brakes for example.

‘Brake drag will have a large impact on the variability of the test results.

‘Therefore, we are working closely with the development engineers from many different areas of technology to standardise and optimise all parts in the testing chain.’

Using basic data on aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance and parasitic losses on a certain model, new vehicle data can be tested on another car, but calculated and interpreted for the intended model to give fast results.

The diesel emissions laboratory boasts an extremely accurate mass metrology laboratory for measuring particles.

The room is built on a 150 ton concrete slab and the scales are on a heavy marble table, to provide the stability needed.

This degree of sensitivity is necessary because, Volvo claims, the particle emissions from a modern diesel engine are so low that they weigh about the same as the fat from a finger print.