U.S. DOT NHTSA Research
Published: 2025 February
Autonomie for Supporting U.S. DOT – NHTSA’s Advanced Vehicle Technology Research
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducts various research on advanced vehicle technologies to analyze energy efficiency, powertrain performance, and emerging propulsion systems under the Energy Policy and Conservative Act (EPCA) passed by Congress in 1975. As part of this initiative, Argonne National Laboratory, has been using Autonomie, a state-of-the-art full-vehicle simulation tool, to evaluate a wide range of powertrain architectures and their impact on vehicle energy consumption and performance.
Autonomie enables NHTSA researchers to quantify the impact of advanced technologies on conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
Key Research Areas for NHTSA include:
- Advanced Powertrain Analysis – Evaluating the performance and energy efficiency of conventional and electrified powertrains under various drive cycles.
- Energy Consumption Studies – Quantifying fuel and electricity consumption across different vehicle architectures and technology packages.
- Technology Effectiveness Assessments – Investigating the impact of lightweighting, aerodynamic enhancements, and low rolling resistance tires on overall vehicle efficiency.
- Comprehensive Vehicle Performance Database – Developing a structured dataset containing detailed simulation results to support further research and analysis.
Autonomie’s extensive modeling capabilities help NHTSA researchers explore next-generation vehicle technology trends, analyze energy consumption patterns, and support the development of more efficient transportation systems. This research provides valuable insights into how advancements in powertrain technology, performance, and vehicle design can shape the future of automotive industry.
For access to Autonomie reports, simulation databases, model assumptions and input files supporting NHTSA vehicle research, please visit: