Analyzing and Reducing

Your Fuel Economy

By: Bret Quinney
Vehicle Design
ME 497
12-5-07
 Fuel Economy
 Fuel Economy-the amount of fuel it takes to move your
vehicle a certain distance
 A few reasons for bad fuel economy:
 Engine Problems
 Poor aerodynamic drag
 High rolling resistance
 Braking
 Poor operating decisions
 Only about 15%-20% of the fuel that you put into your
car goes into getting your car down the road, the rest of
the energy is lost.
 What can we do to save money,energy, and the
environment?
Losses of Energy
 Reducing Aerodynamic Drag
 D = ½ *ρ*V^2*CD*A
 You can improve aerodynamic drag from air
dams, spoilers, tonneau covers, and many other
car body modifications.
 While in motion, where’s the resistance at?
 air drag accounts for about 60% of total resistance
 tire rolling resistance accounts for about 25%.
 The rest is accounted for friction in the driveline.
 Tonneau cover
 For a full size truck, changing CDby .01
will approximately change fuel economy
by .1mpg.
 A tonneau cover covers the bed of a truck
or a convertible to reduce air drag.
 The addition of a tonneau cover will result
in a drag reduction of 2 to 7% and an
improvement of .1 to .3 mpg.
 Air Dams/Spoilers
 Air Dams-An extension attached below the front
bumper, improves vehicle performance by
limiting the airflow that is flowing over the
vehicle. Air dams can assist in reducing
aerodynamic lift, turbulence, and drag.
 The increase in frontal area is compensated by
the decrease in drag.
 Rear spoilers help decrease resistance on
overflow and smooth undertrays can help
decrease drag for underflow.
Percentage of Drag on Specific
Sections on Car with C =.29
D
 Percentage of Drag on the
Underside of the Car with C =.26
D
 Effects of Rolling Resistance
 Rf + Rr = f*(Wf + Wr) = f*W
 Differences in rolling resistances because tire
material and geometry/traction can differ up to
20 to 30% because the friction factor (f)
changes.
 An efficient car-(Ford Focus) can save up to 6%
in gas by using optimal lower rolling resistant
tires, going from 30 to 32mpg.
 Optimal tire inflation is 35psi for minimum rolling
resistance
 Under-inflated at 28 psi can decrease rolling
resistance up to 12.5%.
 Typical Rolling Resistant Friction
Factors
 Low resistant tires, car/truck tires on a
smooth road
 0.006 to 0.01
 Ordinary car tires on concrete
 0.010 to 0.015
 Car on stone plates
 0.020
 Car/bus on teer/asphalt
 0.030
 Comparing Drag and Rolling
Resistance
Effects of Speed Between Drag and Rolling  As you can see drag
Resistance
and rolling resistance
70
have different effects
60
at different speeds.
50
 It takes more work to
percentage of total work

40
drag overcome drag at
rolling resistance
30
higher speeds.
20

10
 Overcoming rolling
resistance is harder at
0
65 km/h 90 km/h lower speeds.
km/h
 Other Energy Efficient Alternative
Vehicles
 Diesel engines
 About 30-35% more efficient than gasoline engines.
 Hybrid vehicles
 Regenerative braking
 Electric motor drive assist
 Automatic start/shutoff

 Electric vehicles
 Converts 70% of its chemical energy to power the car, compared to 20% for
gasoline engines
 AFVs (Alternative Fuel Vehicles)
 Ethanol
 Biodiesel
 Natural gas
 Propane
 Hydrogen
 FCVs (Fuel Cell Vehicles)
 New Fuel Saving Technologies
Technology Avg. Efficiency
Increase
Variable Valve Timing and Lift
5%
Cylinder Deactivation
7.5%
Turbochargers/Superchargers
7.5%
Integrated Starter/Generator
8%
Direct Fuel Injection
11-13%
Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVTs)
6%
Automated Manual Transmissions (AMTs)
7%
Is the Government Doing Anything
to Help?
 CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy)
is a government agency that requires
manufacturers to average their total
productivity of vehicles to certain industry
fuel consumption standards:
 27.5mpg for cars
 20.7mpg for light trucks.
 Tax incentives for buying alternative
energy vehicles.
 Conclusion
 Reducing drag and rolling resistance can
greatly affect fuel economy, especially
over periods of time.
 Using new fuel saving technology will
significantly save you money, the
environment, and save energy.
 The design of future technological
advances is in our hands as
engineers.
Any Questions
 References
• Anglin, Donald L., and Crouse, William H., Automotive
Mechanics 9th Ed., New York, 1985.
• Riley, Robert Q., Alternative Cars in the 21st Century, Society
of Automotive Engineers, Inc., Warrendale, 1994.
• http://www.fordvehicles.com/help/glossary
• http://www.autotrader.com/research/shared/article_id=22079
• http://www.autospeed.drive.com.au/cm5/article.html?
&A=2455
• http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/05/low_rolling_res.php
• http://www.tireack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=29
• http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/atv.shtml