11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer code stored thereon, the computer code comprising: computer code for capturing automotive propulsion information from a first simulation environment indicative of an existing simulation model characteristic of an associated automotive propulsion system, the system including a plurality of levels, each level comprising one or more automotive subsystems and one or more peripherals, the automotive propulsion information including information describing a configuration of each of the one or more automotive subsystems and each of the one or more peripherals and information describing a layout of each of the one or more automotive subsystems and each of the one or more peripherals; computer code for converting the automotive propulsion information from a first format to a second format; computer code for storing for each level of the plurality of levels the information describing the configuration of each of the one or more automotive subsystems and each of the one or more peripherals contained within the each level in the second format in a configuration file associated with the each level; and computer code for storing for each level of the plurality of levels the information describing the layout of each of the one or more automotive subsystems and each of the one or more peripherals contained within the each level in the second format in a layout file associated with the each level; computer code for selecting a plurality of subsystems for inclusion into a second simulation model, the plurality of subsystems being characterized in the configuration files and the layout files; computer code for building the second simulation model in a second simulation environment from the information contained with the configuration files and the layout files, wherein one or more of the layout files includes a grid element comprising one or more grid blocks and a prototype block that includes a set of property values, wherein the one or more grid blocks include one or more block elements and a filter element, and wherein the set of property values of the prototype block are applied to a block element of the one or more block elements when the block element does not match the filter element; and data output from the computer code for analyzing performance characteristics of the constructed simulation model, thereby enabling determination of a desired form of the automotive propulsion system.
15. The non-transitory computer code of claim 11 , further comprising computer code for converting the automotive propulsion information from the second format to at least a portion of a third format, wherein the third format and the first format are substantially identical.