ADVANCED VEHICLE RESEARCH CENTER had its grand opening for the new Headquarters in Danville, Virginia on August 24th, 2009.
The AVRC facility is a new 16,000 square foot headquarters that includes a research and design center in the Cyber Park. Additionally, the company is developing a closed loop natural terrain track on a 266-acre site near the Danville Regional Airport. The track will be used to test manned and unmanned military vehicles and off-road vehicles.
AVRC has a commercial initiative to convert hybrid Toyota Priuses to Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles. (PHEVs) and other initiatives include natural gas conversion and Hydrogen mobile generation. AVRC has done more PHEV conversions than any other company on the East Coast for clients including Progress Energy, Duke Energy, City of Raleigh, and other clients from New York to Florida.
The Advanced Vehicle Research Center (AVRC) was established in 2001 in North Carolina by Dick Dell as an independent company to service the rapidly growing automotive testing industry. The automotive industry is going through unprecedented change as more investment in research and development is being done due to the rising cost of fuel and the need for energy independence. Additional factors include increasing federal regulations, safety improvements and new technologies. Demand for testing services has steadily increased, especially in the military sector and from off-road component manufacturers.
Starting with a grant from the US Department of Energy, the AVRC has done research on many types of alternative fuels and systems. Most recently, the AVRC has led the Southeast region in plug-in hybrid conversions. Our future focus will be in the rapidly growing area of plug-in hybrid and full electric vehicles.
While the team sees the legacy fleet as the biggest opportunity for development, the electric, hybrid, hydrogen, fuel cell and natural gas conversions will be the primary area of focus for conversion contracts. The new facility will also have testing equipment for engine bio-fuels and emissions testing. The adjacent track area will be used as an off-road test facility, to accommodate requests from military and off-road manufacturers. It will also be used to test electric, hybrid, flex-fuel and autonomous robotic vehicles for government and military contracts.
Research – Currently our major research project is the development of the rolling Laboratory for Rapid Application Testing (LabRAT). Funded by the Department of Energy, this configurable vehicle chassis is a fully functional platform capable of being run on a chassis dynamometer for performance evaluation and drive cycle testing. The ability to benchmark multiple drive motors and energy storage systems will shorten development time for electric vehicles.
University Relationships – AVRC partners with and supports our local Universities including NCSU and Virginia Tech. Our joint research has yielded real and demonstrable results.
Client Base – AVRC’s client base includes 12 major utility companies on the East Coast from New York to Florida. AVRC also holds a GSA contract on the GSA Low Speed Vehicle schedule. As a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, AVRC is eligible for Federal contract set-asides under multiple categories.
Grants and Contracts – AVRC has successfully won and managed contracts and grants from the US Department of Energy for Research, the National Alternative Fuel Training Consortium for curriculum development, and the National Aerospace Development Center for Strategy and Workforce Development. A great deal of our work is online, but a few links are provided below as well.
Hydrogen refuling station “Design and Build” document
This project utilized existing market-ready technologies to create a “Design & Build” document for a mobile refueling station capable of generating hydrogen for the fueling of hybrid and hydrogen-fueled vehicles. Based on the design document, the unit can be transported to various locations to support education, outreach, research and demonstration activities. If implemented, a string of low cost, low volume hydrogen stations could be the base for a hydrogen infrastructure that would facilitate the production of more hydrogen powered vehicles.
Ethanol efficiency, Pontiac and Corvette
Working with a top consultant in the UK on combustion efficiency, and Lotus Engineering, NA, we completed two vehicles that demonstrate how the higher octane in ethanol can be utilized to gain up to a 30% improvement in efficiency in a purpose built ethanol engine. The technology could benefit the alternative fuel industry that has been hurt by the fact that standard ‘flex-fuel’ vehicles show a significant loss in power and mileage when operating on ethanol. The vehicles are a 2007 Pontiac G-6 and a 1992 Corvette, both now equipped with a high tech GM Ecotec engine.
Distance Learning Lab
The AVRC will be teaching a course on Alternative Fuels at Nash Community College entitled “Alternative Fuels Training”.
Workforce Strategy
The AVRC, working jointly with the National Aerospace Development Center, completed a workforce development strategic plan for the State of North Carolina. The plan provides a set of strategies to enhance the aerospace workforce in North Carolina to meet growing industry demands.
Combustion analysis lab at NCSU
AVRC provided expertise and funding through a US DOE grant to build a combustion analysis laboratory at NCSU. The lab will be completed later this year and allow testing of bio-fuels for energy and emissions.
Commercial and fleet plug-in electric hybrid conversion
AVRC has been named the Fleet Vehicle Operations Center for A123/Hymotion, and is dedicated to work with fleet and commercial groups of this new technology. Since installing the first prototype conversions in the Southeast region in September of 2007, AVRC has worked with utilities and municipalities to provide installation, support and assistance while they tested this technology in real world conditions. These conversions take the standard hybrid Prius and add an additional 5 KW Lithium-Ion battery pack that can be recharged from a 110 volt standard wall socket. Fully charged, the car can be driven up to 35 miles on mostly electricity, which is now the average daily mileage driven by an American driver. When in urban and suburban environments, these plug-in hybrids can routinely get 100 mpg or more.
