Vehicle Fleet Technologies

Within the vehicle fleet sector, recognizing that well established procedures exist for performance testing of new engines and most after-market fuel system retrofit kits, the ETV Canada process is generally seen to be most suitable and add the greatest value in the contentious areas of fuel additives and after-market engine modifications. ETV Canada is in the process of launching a stakeholder-driven performance benchmarking initiative in the vehicle/engine emissions/fuel efficiency sector to identify key criteria against which environmental performance can be measured and verified, thereby assisting fleet managers in making their technology procurement decisions.

Recent ETV Canada performance benchmarking projects in the vehicle fleet sector are described below.

Engine After-Market Device (EAMD) Guidance Document

ETV Canada is continuing its efforts to promote the EAMD performance benchmarking initiative within Canada. Specifically, ETV Canada developed a comprehensive e-mail broadcast which was sent to active EAMD vendors of record in late August. This communication provided some logistical and other comments to augment the content of the Draft Guidance Document (or Protocol) that had been completed in early June and approved by the various stakeholders. This broadcast, and the Guidance Document, was also included in the Summer e-newsletter of the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA ) and placed in to the "What’s New" section of the ETV Canada web site. In addition, the following actions were undertaken:

• A document outlining the importance of the development of meaningful Performance Claims to support the verification process was also prepared and sent to SMEs in the EAMD area at the Technical Pre-Screening stage in their dealings with ETV Canada.
• A separate EAMD vendor client list was prepared and organized by Province and Country, including US-based vendors.
• ETV Canada worked with the Environment Canada vehicle/engine test lab to revise the intellectual property clause in EC’s Joint Project Agreement, to make it more amenable to the concerns of EAMD vendors.

Discussions have also taken place with Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), and the technical services group at the Canadian Urban Transportation Association (CUTA). Possible avenues for supporting the testing and verification of engine and vehicle additives and devices are being explored.

Additional Current ETV Canada Activities
OCETA/ETV and Fleet Challenge Canada (FCC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which serves as a framework to guide the development of relevant and meaningful criteria for technology performance verification in the vehicle fleet sector.
For further information about Fleet Challenge Canada, please refer to www.fleetchallenge.ca.

In addition to vehicle/engine emissions/fuel efficiency performance testing, measurement and verification, Environment Canada, through other offices and operational units, is responsible for managing other issues of national and international importance. One such issue is the Border Air Quality (BAQ) Strategy which is managed for Environment Canada (EC) through its Ontario office in collaboration with the US EPA office in Chicago. EC Ontario recently engaged the services of Fleet Challenge Canada to organize and facilitate a meeting in Windsor on March 23rd, "Workshop on Bi-National ETV Initiatives for Green Fleets. Representatives from US/EPA, EC, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), CAMFM, CUFC, NAFA and ETV Canada were present. A report was prepared on this meeting and a proposal has been submitted to EC Ontario to engage the services of ETV Canada and FCC (Ontario) to organize and facilitate stakeholder performance benchmarking workshop in October/November 2006 in Windsor, Ontario.

To ensure that the test methods and performance verification protocols related to vehicle/engine emissions/fuel efficiency are credible, ETV Canada is continuing to work with Environment Canada's Emissions Research and Measurement Division (ERMD). ERMD is providing advice on how to best to harmonize vehicle/engine emissions/fuel efficiency test methods and performance verification protocols with accepted practice in Canada and the United States. ETV Canada is also maintaining active working relationships with Bodycote and PAMI, which are both well qualified testing and verification organizations in this sector.

Below is a list of organizations in Canada which currently serve as test facilities and verification entities for engine-related technologies and products under the ETV Canada Program.

Bodycote Materials Testing Canada Inc.
2395 Speakman Drive
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5K 1B3
www.bodycotetesting.com

Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute
P.O. Box 1150, Hwy. 5 West,
Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada S0K 2A0
www.pami.ca

Emissions Research and Measurement (EMRD)
Environmental Technology Centre
Science and Technology Branch
Environment Canada
335 River Road
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0H3
www.etc-cte.ec.gc.ca/organization/ermd/ermd_summary_e.html