FOCUS: ELECTRIFIED VEHICLES SAE Member at U.S. DOE lab does his part to help engineer the future of EVs Argonne scientists. J1711 was finished and the Volt along with every other mass-produced PHEV to date have been tested using procedures initially developed, refined, and validated at Argonne's dynamometer laboratory. The biggest hazard we faced in developing SAE J1711 was to avoid a technology-forcing procedure. The methods must be designed without assumptions or test approaches arbitrarily rewarding one design over another. The test should quantify the true merits without biasing toward certain design choices. I think this was accomplished, looking at design specifications of the few dozen PHEV designs now in production, they show no apparent grouping or consensus choice of battery size or electric power capability, as it turned out, there still is no " typical PHEV design. " Still very active in SAE, I am currently leading two task forces. Revising SAE J1711, we are finding ways to make the procedure easier to administer (reducing barriers to production). One aspect of the changes may enable OEMs to 20 August 2021 In the control room explaining the results of a Chevy Volt elevated temperature research test in the AMTL during a VIP tour with former U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. design hybrids with more flexibility to optimize fuel efficiency by carefully applying corrections for larger changes in battery energy state (adapted from an old 1996 SAE paper of mine testing university prototypes). The second task force (SAE J2908) addresses a barrier any new technology faces: how will it be compared to familiar existing technology? Conventional vehicles are rated for power using a rigorous test with the engine placed on a test stand (SAE J1349). SAE J2908 defines power test procedures for electric vehicles and hybrids. The challenge is they often employ multiple powerproducing components and operate as a system that may not perform the same when removed or separated. The most technology-neutral approach we UPDATE