Small-Overlap Frontal Crashworthiness

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (USDOT) NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION (NHTSA) Synopsis for DTNH22-13-R-00698 Small-Overlap Frontal Crashworthiness The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) intends to make an award, on a sole-source basis, to Electricore Inc. to "Small-Overlap Frontal Crashworthiness", during the period of August 22, 2013 to July 21, 2014. NHTSA has been issuing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) for the last thirty years. EPCA requires DOT to establish average fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks at "the maximum feasible average fuel economy level that the Secretary [of DOT] decides the manufacturers can achieve in that model year." When setting "maximum feasible" fuel economy standards, DOT is required to "consider technological feasibility, economic practicability, the effect of other motor vehicle standards of the Government on fuel economy, and the need of the United States to conserve energy." The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) was enacted on December 19, 2007 and amended EPCA by mandating, in addition to passenger car and light truck standards being set at the maximum feasible level in each model year, that the model year (MY) 2011-2020 CAFE standards be set sufficiently high to ensure that the industry-wide average of all new passenger cars and light trucks, combined, is not less than 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by MY 2020. Purpose: Current vehicle design practices are to achieve good performance in the public safety tests conducted by NCAP and IIHS. Recently IIHS announced a new test protocol for vehicle small overlap (SOL) frontal crashworthiness testing. This test is conducted at 40 +/- 0.6 mph and 25 +/- 1 percent overlap. In response to this new test, automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have to redesign and strengthen vehicle structure, especially at the front of the vehicle so that it can achieve a good rating. Because SOL was just announced recently, many OEMs are coming up with counter-measures in between redesigns using a "bandage" solution instead of a fully redesigned and integrated solution. The amount of vehicle weight change needs to be decided, if a vehicle is fully redesigned with the safety countermeasures optimized and integrated into the new vehicle structure. The newly announced small overlap test has the potential of adding weight to vehicle which is against the trend of vehicle light weighting as used in CAFE rulemaking analyses. NHTSA needs to understand how much vehicle weight will be changed due to the SOL test requirement and the associated cost to stay informed of the new industry trend. The work performed under this contract shall be based on the work performed under contract DTNH22-11-C-00193, i.e. using the FEA and cost models developed in that contract and updating the design with countermeasures for the new IIHS SOL test. Objectives: 1. Create a MY2011 baseline Honda Accord model that can be releasable to the public. 2. Update the baseline Honda Accord model so that it could achieve comparable structure performance under IIHS small overlap test condition when compared to IIHS's test result for MY2009 Honda Accord. 3. Update the light-weighted Honda Accord model so that it will achieve "good" rating for the structure performance and estimate the vehicle mass and cost implication due to this requirement. - 4. 4. Update Optional task 1 in contract DTNH22-11-C-00193 to estimate the associated weight change for other vehicle classes due to the addition of the SOL test requirements. The NAICS Code for this contract is 541330. Contractors must be registered in the US Federal Contractor Registrations and must complete electronic representatives and certification on the ORCA database located at www.sam.gov to be considered for contract award. It is the Government's intent to award a Cost Plus Fixed Fee type contract resulting from the solicitation, with or without discussions, to the responsible offeror whose proposal, conforming to the solicitation, is most advantageous to the Government based on the evaluation factors contained in the solicitation. THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. Potential sources who believe they can provide the services listed above are invited to submit capability statements in writing to the identified point of contact to contact@example.gov by March 26, 2013. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the Government to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government. The anticipated award date is August 22, 2013.