Electrification of powertrain systems offers numerous advantages in the global trend in vehicular applications. A wide range of energy sources and zero-emission propulsion in the tank to wheel significantly add to electric vehicles’ (EV) attractiveness. This paper presents analyses of the energy balance between micro-photovoltaic (PV) installation and small electric vehicle in real conditions. It is based on monitoring PV panel’s energy production and car electricity consumption. The methodology included energy data from real household PV installation (the most common renewable energy source in Poland), electric vehicle energy consumption during real driving conditions, and drivetrain operating parameters, all collected over a period of one year by indirect measuring. A correlation between energy produced by the micro-PV installation and small electric car energy consumption was described. In the Winter, small electric car energy consumption amounted to 14.9 kWh per 100 km and was 14% greater than summer, based on test requirements of real driving conditions. The 4.48 kW PV installation located in Poznań produced 4101 kWh energy in 258 days. The calculation indicated 1406 kWh energy was available for EV charging after household electricity consumption subtraction. The zero-emission daily distance analysis was done by the simplified method.

The growing number of electric vehicles in recent years is observable in almost all countries. The country’s energy transition should accompany this rise in electromobility if it is currently generated from non-renewable sources. Only electric vehicles powered by renewable energy sources can be considered zero-emission. Therefore, it is essential to conduct interdisciplinary research on the feasibility of combining energy recovery/generation structures and testing the energy consumption of electric vehicles under real driving conditions. This work presents a comprehensive approach for evaluating the energy consumption of a modern public building–electric vehicle system within a specific location. The original methodology developed includes surveys that demonstrate the required mobility range to be provided to occupants of the building under consideration. In the next step, an energy balance was performed for a novel near-zero energy building equipped with a 199.8 kWp photovoltaic installation, the energy from which can be used to charge an electric vehicle. The analysis considered the variation in vehicle energy consumption by season (winter/summer), the actual charging profile of the vehicle, and the parking periods required to achieve the target range for the user.

The use of a two-stage combustion system in a hydrogen-fueled engine is characteristic of modern internal combustion engines. The main problem with hydrogen combustion in such systems is knocking combustion. This paper contains the results of research under knock combustion conditions with a single-cylinder internal combustion engine equipped with a turbulent jet ignition system (TJI). A layout with a passive pre-chamber and a variable value of the excess air ratio range λ = 1.25–2.0 with a constant value of the center of combustion (CoC = 4 deg) after top dead center (TDC) was used. Two indicators of knock combustion were analyzed: maximum oscillation of pressure and the Mahle Knock Index. Analyses were also carried out taking into account the rate of heat release and the amount of heat released. As a result of the investigation, it was found that knock combustion occurs intensively at small values of the air excess ratio. Hydrogen knock combustion disappears for λ = 2.0 and greater. The pressure oscillation index was found to be more applicable, as its limiting value (>1 bar) allows easy diagnosis of knock combustion. The Mahle Knock Index is a quantity that allows interval analysis of the knock. The choice of classes and weighting coefficients requires an iterative operation, as they strictly depend on engine characteristics, load, and knock magnitude.

The greenhouse effect and overall climate changes are the main reasons for developing ecological powertrain units dedicated to road vehicles. An electrical drivetrain without using conventional combustion engines fueled by hydrocar-bon fuels is an effective method to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from the fleet. It is particularly vital in 2020 emis-sion regulations aspects, and continuously the number of vehicles increasing. In this paper battery electric drive system of a small size passenger car was analyzed in terms of two different drive modes in cooperation with two recuperative braking modes. The research was carried out with real driving condition test requirements and driving parameters re-cording. Based on data obtained from OBD signals, energy flow and torque distribution have been specified. In results, overall reducing energy consumption has been achieved with ECO mode compared to normal mode. Selection of the driving mode ECO has a positive impact on reducing the state of charge saving more than 5%, taking into account the whole RDC test; greater energy consumption reductions were observed in selected test areas.

Hydrogen-fueled engines require large values of the excess air ratio in order to achieve high thermal efficiency. A low value of this coefficient promotes knocking combustion. This paper analyzes the conditions for the occurrence of knocking combustion in an engine with a turbulent jet ignition (TJI) system with a passive pre-chamber. A single-cylinder engine equipped with a TJI system was running with an air-to-fuel equivalence ratio λ in the range of 1.25–2.00, and the center of combustion (CoC) was regulated in the range of 2–14 deg aTDC (top dead center). Such process conditions made it possible to fully analyze the ascension of knock combustion until its disappearance with the increase in lambda and CoC. Measures of knock in the form of maximum amplitude pressure oscillation (MAPO) and integral modulus of pressure oscillation (IMPO) were used. The absolute values of these indices were pointed out, which can provide the basis for the definition of knock combustion. Based on our own work, the MAPO index > 1 bar was defined, determining the occurrence of knocking (without indicating its quality). In addition, taking into account MAPO, it was concluded that IMPO > 0.13 bar·deg is the quantity responsible for knocking combustion.

Searching for further reduction of fuel consumption simultaneously with the reduction of toxic compounds emission new systems for lean-mixture combustion for SI engines are being discussed by many manufacturers. Within the European GasOn-Project (Gas Only Internal Combustion Engines) the two-stage combustion and Turbulent Jet Ignition concept for CNG-fuelled high speed engine has been proposed and thoroughly investigated where the reduction of gas consumption and increasing of engine efficiency together with the reduction of emission, especially CO2 was expected. In the investigated cases the lean-burn combustion process was conducted with selection of the most effective pre-combustion chamber. The experimental investigations have been performed on single-cylinder AVL5804 research engine, which has been modified to SI and CNG fuelling. For the analysis of the thermodynamic, operational and emission indexes very advanced equipment has been applied. Based on the measuring results achieved for different pre-chamber config-urations the extended methodology of polioptimization by pre-chamber selection and the shape of main chamber in the piston crown for proposed combustion system has been described and discussed. The results of the three versions of the optimization methods have been comparatively summarized in conclusions.