ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF CARSAustin MacKay

Josh Vann

Period 3

MAIN GOAL

The main goal of hybrid and electric vehicles are to create less air pollution and slow the use of gasoline.

C A F E STANDARDS

Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFÉ, is the sales average fuel economy, of passenger cars or light trucks with the weight of 8,500 lbs. or less.

Fuel economy is defined as the average mileage traveled by an vehicle per gallon of gasoline.

OVERALL POTENTIAL Traveling on the road today there

are 4,000 electric vehicles. The potential for the mass production and success of this new way of powering cars is very high. Interest in these new cars is also very high. The money saved and the low greenhouse gas emissions get not only the every day citizen excited but also the politicians and the environmentalists. The only thing that critics can’t get passed is the short range of these cars. In most electric cars is a small gasoline generator that is only used in recharging the battery. The mpg of the Chevy Volt (top)is 230 in the city, and the Nissan Leaf(bottom) gets about 367 miles to the gallon.

A HYBRID ENGINE COMPARED TO AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

The problem with electric has been that it is very slow and inconvenient to recharge.

A gasoline-electric car combines two setups into one system that includes both gas power and electric power giving the car great speed and gas mileage.

The internal combustion engine uses gasoline that runs to the engine giving it power. The engine then turns a transmission, turning the wheels. Cars with this type of engine typically are faster and can go for a longer time without refueling. These cars also produce a very large amount of pollution.

Hybrid/ Electric Internal Combustion

OBSTACLES

The slow speed and short range before recharging is a huge obstacle for electric cars. An exception come to play with the Eliica. The Eliica (below) is completely electric and can reach speeds up to 230 mph.

The bickering of the two political parties is an obstacle itself because they will not agree on an energy alternative. Because of this no progress is being made.

Technological Political & Economic

WHERE DOES THE ENERGY COME FROM?

The Leaf and the Volt, mentioned earlier, both plug directly into a common wall socket. Recharging takes approximately 8 hours to complete.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/fuels/altfuels/420f00034.htm

http://kevincolby.com/2008/07/12/electric-car-making-a-comeback-in-2010/

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/cafe/overview.htm