Urban Driving Cycles and Vehicle Emissions Evaluation Through Statistical Analysis On Real Kinematic Data

Transport activities contribute significantly to air pollution and its impact on emissions is a key element in the evaluation of any transport policy or plan. There is a huge interest in evaluating the actual level of emissions across Europe and around the World as the amount of traffic increases globally. In the coming years, further minimizing vehicle emissions will be one of the most important development drivers. The increasingly stringent emission regulations require continuous optimizations that must be validated in new test cycles. So, in the context of sustainable mobility, different aspects related to evaluation of vehicles pollutant emissions is still the subject of research studies. In this paper, we will be focused on vehicle kinematic evaluation aimed at valuation of traffic situation and emissions. For this purpose, driving data and emissions are acquired during an experimental campaign through six instrumented vehicles by a portable emissions measurement system (PEMS) for the simultaneous acquisition of emissions, kinematic variables and global positioning system (GPS) data. Some statistical results relative to a classification of driving behaviour in order to seek the best efficiency of the vehicle in terms of fuel consumption, emissions and performance during real trips are presented. The whole experimental dataset is divided into two subsets, relating to two experimental identified paths. Statistical analysis results are relative to Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) performed on kinematic data to better characterize road tests and driving behaviour. From this statistical approach we identify a representative driving cycle to characterize environmental impact of frequently traffic situation in real use. Results regarding this activity obviously are a preliminary indication but also a strong starting point for reflection on the real representation of the cycles currently used for type approval, fuel consumption and emissions evaluation. Furthermore, they could be useful to both policy makers and vehicle manufacturers in developing future emission policy/technology strategies.