The PHOENICE Project: A Synergic Use of Innovative Technologies for the Next Generation of Green Hybrid Powertrains

The PHOENICE project aims at developing a C SUV-class plug-in hybrid (P0/P4) vehicle demonstrator whose fuel consumption and pollutant emissions are jointly minimized for real-world driving conditions. Technologies developed in PHOENICE are targeting a TRL 7 paying a specific attention to cost, industrialization, and to the use opportunity for various vehicle classes so as to maximize the economic and environmental impacts. This project is aiming to support the European automobile industry in the medium term and speed up the transition towards a more environmentally friendly mobility in terms of air quality and GHG emissions. The achievement of these ambitious goals will require the optimization of a highly efficient gasoline engine, relying on a dual dilution combustion approach with excess air and EGR, synergizing an innovative in-cylinder charge motion with high-pressure injection, novel ignition technologies, and an electrified turbocharger particularly relevant for hybrid architectures. The potential of alternative fuels produced by P2X processes will also be considered. To achieve the targeted near-zero-emissions in real driving conditions, the demonstrator vehicle will be equipped with a complete and dedicated aftertreatment system, including an electrically heated catalyst, a SCR and a GPF for abating NOx, particle number down to 10 nm, and non-regulated gaseous emissions. Finally, the vehicle overall efficiency will be increased with an exhaust waste heat recovery system for generating an additional electric power contribution for cabin heating or cooling, or for reducing the switch-on time of the internal combustion engine in cold conditions, thereby limiting the engine-out pollutant emissions such as particles.