Vehicle emissions and driving cycles: comparison of the Athens driving cycle (ADC) with ECE-15 and European driving cycle (EDC)

Vehicle emissions constitute the main source of atmospheric pollution in modern cities. The
increasing number of passenger cars, especially during the last decade, resulted in composite
traffic problems with serious consequences on emissions and fuel consumption. This project
was carried out in the Laboratory of Fuel Technology and Lubricants at NTUA in order to
examine the effects of the driving patterns on fuel consumption and exhaust emissions from
cars in the Athens basin.
The typical driving profile consists of a complicated series of accelerations, decelerations and
frequent stops and it is simulated by driving cycles on a laboratory chassis dynamometer. The
New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) is applied in laboratory test approvals in the EU and is
based on traffic data from European capitals (Paris and Rome). Traffic data from Athens was
not included in the development of NEDC. The FTP 75 driving cycle and the Japan 10-15
modal cycle are currently used in the United States and Japan respectively. The different than
other European cities and rapidly changing traffic conditions in Athens as well as the
expanding transportation network and the atmospheric pollution problems impose the need to
develop the Athens Driving Cycle (ADC).
In this paper, onboard electronic equipment (GPS, OBD II reader, accelerometer, etc) was
used and “real world” traffic data was collected, covering almost all the Athens road network
for a two year period. Dedicated software was developed for the statistical analysis of the
recorded parameters and therefore the first ADC was modeled with the following
characteristics: ADC duration is 1160 seconds, the overall distance is 6512 meters, the mean
velocity is 20.21 km h-1 and the maximum velocity is 70.86 km h-1.
For comparison purposes, three passenger cars of different classification (Citroen Xsara 1.6L,
a Mitsubishi Space Runner 2.0L Turbo and a Chrysler PT Cruiser 2.4L Turbo) were tested on
a laboratory chassis dynamometer, applying three distinctive Driving Cycles: the Urban
Driving Cycle (ECE-15), the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and the newly designed
Athens Driving Cycle (ADC). Results show that NOX emissions are higher in ADC than ECE
and EDC, up to 2.5 times. Higher CO emissions are recorded during ADC for 1.6L and 2.0L
cars while ECE-15 gave the higher CO emissions for the 2.4L vehicle. Overall HC emissions
do not show any significant variation. Fuel consumption is higher for ADC mode in all cases.