Influence of road and traffic conditions on emissions and fuel consumption of light vehicles in a real urban driving cycle.

Over time, international decision-making bodies have paid a special attention to the adoption of test driving cycles in the laboratory that reflect standard traffic conditions and regulations regarding the maximum limit of pollutant emissions from road vehicles to be homologated for their admittance to traffic. The proposed study examines the impact of road and traffic characteristics on pollutant emissions and fuel consumption of light vehicles in a real urban traffic cycle. The research was carried out following two scenarios, in two phases, each of them focusing on the analysis of greenhouse gas emissions mainly (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO), and carbon monoxide (CO) from motor vehicles with both petrol and diesel. Simultaneously, the fuel consumption of these vehicles was also evaluated. In the first scenario, the objective was to collect real data on road and traffic characteristics through tests on a carefully selected urban route in two phases: noon (light traffic) and evening (congested traffic). In the second scenario, data from both phases were used to generate two driving cycles simulating real conditions for vehicle testing on the stand; thus, four different cars were used. The research results obtained both by traveling the chosen route and by virtually traveling the same route by using real driving cycles allow a complex analysis of the interaction of different types of cars (Standard EURO 6) with the surrounding environment in traffic conditions that can lead to improve substantial effects of impacts on its various components.