Ataur Rahman

How individual values and attitude influence consumers’ purchase intention of electric vehicles—some insights from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This article observes how the individual values and attitudes of consumers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia influence their purchase intention of electric vehicles (EVs) using the well-known theory of reasoned action (TRA). This study analyzed the data collected from 200 respondents from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These respondents were asked about their views concerning their value sets, attitudes and purchase intention of EV using the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. Findings of this study indicate that individual consequences relating to cost and convenience of consumers is negatively related to intention to purchase EVs. Environmental consequences are not a significant predictor of purchase intention. Conservation value was found to be positively related to the attitude of the respondents on environmental consequences but less intensely with individual consequences, while both self-transcendence value and self-enhancement value were positively related to individual consequences. Individual consequences and self-enhancement values were negatively related to environmentally responsible purchase intention. This article shows that the extended TRA might be applicable to the Malaysian context. The results of the study also suggest that domestic and foreign manufacturers of EVs should also take into consideration the perceptible easiness and convenience of users to recycle and reuse battery by using special materials that are recyclable and not harmful to the users.

Wireless Battery Management System of Electric Transport

Electric vehicles (EVs) are being developed and considered as the future transportation to reduce emission of toxic gas, cost and weight. The battery pack is one of the main crucial parts of the electric vehicle. The power optimization of the battery pack has been maintained by developing a two phase evaporative thermal management system which operation has been controlled by using a wireless battery management system. A large number of individual cells in a battery pack have many wire terminations that are liable for safety failure. To reduce the wiring problem, a wireless battery management system based on ZigBee communication protocol and point-to-point wireless topology has been presented. Microcontrollers and wireless modules are employed to process the information from several sensors (voltage, temperature and SOC) and transmit to the display devices respectively. The WBMS multistage charge balancing system offering more effective and efficient responses for several numbers of series connected battery cells. The concept of double tier switched capacitor converter and resonant switched capacitor converter is used for reducing the charge balancing time of the cells. The balancing result for 2 cells and 16 cells are improved by 15.12% and 25.3% respectively. The balancing results are poised to become better when the battery cells are increased.

Development of electric vehicle: public perception and attitude, the Malaysian approach

The rising energy demand has compounded with fuel subsidies and a volatility of oil prices has set the transport sector on an unsustainable course and posed a threat to national energy security in Malaysia. Moreover, it contributes significantly to the green house gas (GHG) emission and causes health as well as environmental damages. Green transport is a feasible transportation technology capable of setting the transportation sector in a sustainable course. The focus of this study is to develop an electric car driven by an electrical motor powered by 84.6 kWh of LiFePO 4 battery with an evaporative cooling battery thermal management system (EC-BThMS). The EC-BThMS has been able to keep the battery temperature in the range of 25°C to 40°C. The justification of the introduction of green vehicle was made by the investigation of public preference and attitude towards green transport. The results of the survey indicate that 54% of respondents seriously like to purchase environmental friendly green transport.

Fuzzy logic-based Model for Prediction of Building Wall Humidity Level

This paper presents the viability of using fuzzy logic expert system for the prediction of building wall’s relative humidity. In comparison with traditional logic model, fuzzy logic is more efficient in linking the multiple units to a single output and is invaluable supplements to classical hard computing techniques. The purpose of this work was to investigate the relationship between wall material composition and climate condition, as well as to evaluate the viability of using fuzzy logic expert system in predicting the building wall’s humidity level. The experimental data was taken at different time of the day for different material composition. A fuzzy logic expert system model based on Mamdani approach was subsequently developed to predict the building wall’s humidity level. Verification of the developed fuzzy logic model was carried out through various numerical error criteria. The study revealed that the developed fuzzy system was able to predict the humidity level in the wall material within high accuracy with relative error of less than the acceptable limits of 10% and a goodness of fit very close to unity.

Intelligent air-cushion tracked vehicle performance investigation: neural-networks.

Intelligent Air-Cushion Tracked Vehicle (IACTV) is intended as an alternative to conventional off-road vehicles, which are driven by track system and air-cushion system. To make IACTV as efficient as possible, proper investigation of vehicle performance is essential. However, most relevant factors that affect the competitive efficiency of the air-cushion tracked vehicle are the tractive effort, motion resistance and power consumption. Therefore, an Artificial Neural-Network (ANN) model is proposed to investigate the vehicle performance. Cushion Clearance Height (CH), and Air-Cushion Pressure (CP) are used at the input layers while Power Consumption (PC), Tractive Effort (TE) and Motion Resistance (MR) are used at the output layers. Experiments are carried out in the field to investigate the vehicle performance and compared with the results obtained from ANN.

Investigation using simulations for the development of low cost catalytic converter from non-precious metals

This paper discusses the uses of non-precious metals in catalytic converters to bring down the cost without sacrificing the performance capability. Copper powder and nickel catalyst were chosen as the alternative catalysts to reduce the use of precious group metals (PGMs) platinum, palladium, and rhodium. Simulation by COMSOL has shown that Nickel and copper were very effective in reducing NOx during rich condition of air-fuel mixture while oxidizing CO and HC during lean condition. Simulations using FLUENT and COMSOL have shown the actual characteristics of the catalytic converter performance. The flow throughout catalytic converter and the backpressure have successfully determined. Furthermore, catalyst conversion efficiency also has been shown clearly. On the other hands, the experimental results have excellently validated the simulation results in terms of the nature and trends of the catalytic converter performance as well as its efficiency. Catalyst distribution and application of the non-zoning monolith substrates have further contributes to cut down the production cost. It was found that the low cost catalytic converter was able to meet the EURO 2 emission regulation control and has optimum backpressure at full throttle.

Mobility investigation of an intelligent air-cushion tracked vehicle on swamp peat terrain in Malaysia

This study presents the vehicle mobility in terms of traction mechanics for the developed small scale intelligent aircushion tracked vehicle (IACTV) moving over swamp peat.The air cushion system partially supports the 20 % of vehicle total weight in order to make the vehicle ground contact pressure 7 kN/m2. As the air-cushion support system can adjust automatically on the terrain, so the vehicle can move over the terrain without any risks. The spring-damper system is used with the vehicle body to control the air-cushion support system on any undulating terrain by making the system sinusoidal form but an unstable heave motion is developed under these conditions. The experiment and simulated performance results such as tractive efficiency of 60-72 % and corresponding traction coefficient of 50-55 % for the vehicle slippage of 3-10 % indicate that the developed vehicle can meet the swamp peat terrain requirement with its optimal power consumption.

Investigation of aluminum heat sink design with thermoelectric generator

This paper presents an investigation of aluminium heat sink designs with thermoelectric generator. Basically, for thermoelectric generator (Peltier module), the thermal conversion uses Peltier effect. Two heat sinks with different design, with thermoelectric module of Bismuth Telluride, Bi 2 Te 3 were used in this investigation. The simulation and experimental studies were conducted with two different heat sinks attached with thermoelectric generator (TEG). System modelling was used to collect data and to predict the behaviour and performance of thermoelectric modules. Experiment was conducted in exhaust system at muffler section since the temperature at muffler section meets the requirement of thermoelectric generator.The result of the experiments shows that rectangular fin heat sink is more efficient in heat transfer compared to circular tube fin heat sink due to its geometry and properties.

Analysis of the internal temperature of the cells in a battery pack during SOC balancing

Lithium-ion batteries are more suitable for the application of electric vehicle due to high energy and power density compared to other rechargeable batteries. However, the battery pack temperature has a great impact on the overall performance, cycle life, normal charging-discharging behaviour and even safety. During rapid charge transferring process, the internal temperature may exceed its allowable limit (460C). In this paper, an analysis of internal temperature during charge balancing and discharging conditions is presented. Specific interest is paid to the effects of temperature on the different rate of ambient temperature and discharging current. Matlab/Simulink Li-ion battery model and quasi-resonant converter base balancing system are used to study the temperature effect. Rising internal temperature depends on the rate of balancing current and ambient temperature found in the simulation results.

The prospects of panel style nano-battery technology for EV/HEV

CO2 reduction is a fundamental driver for lightweight in automotive. Reducing weight of automobile helps improve energy consumption and reduction of CO2 emission. It is estimated that if the weight of automobile can reduced by 100 kg, it saves approximately 8.5 g of CO2 per 100 km travelling. The introduction of EVs is one of the initiatives for the reduction of CO2 emission. This paper presents the prospects of panel style nano-battery technology for EV/HEV builds with CuO filler epoxy resin (ER) sandwiched by Carbon Fiber (CF) and Lithium (Li) plate. The proposed body panel of EV/HEV would reduce the car weight about 20%, contribute on electrical energy storing and releasing capacity of 1.5 kWh (10% of car total power requirement), and CuO filler ER provides the heat insulation for the car which would save about 10% power consumption of air conditioning system. Aluminum laminated polypropylene film has considered with the proposed body panel to prevent EMC effect to the passenger cabin. It is expected that the proposed panel style nano-battery of EV would save 6.00 kWh battery energy equivalent to 2.81 litre of petrol and prevent 3.081 kg of CO2 emission for every 100 km travelling.