Reducing Pumping Loss
Reductions in flow pressure loss can be achieved by reducing the pressure drop that occurs in the flow of air (air fuel mixture) into the cylinder, and the combusted mixture…
Reducing Mechanical Friction
Mechanical friction losses can be reduced by converting sliding metal contacts to rolling contacts, reducing the weight of moving parts, reducing production tolerances to improve the fit between pistons and…
Improvements To Spark Ignition Engines
Overview The spark ignition (SI) engine is the dominant passenger car and light truck powerplant in the United States. The theoretical efficiency of the SI engine is: Efficiency = 1…
Rolling Resistance Reduction
Background The rolling resistance of a tire is the force required to move the tire forward, and represents nearly a third of the tractive forces on a vehicle. The force…
Materials Selection Criteria
Five key factors affect the auto designer’s selection of materials: manufacturability and cost, performance, weight, safety, and recyclability. Manufacturability and Cost A typical mid-size family car costs about $5 per…
Technologies for Advanced Vehicles Performance and Cost Expectations
This chapter discusses the technical potential and probable costs of a range of advanced vehicle technologies that may be available for commercialization by 2005 and 2015 (or earlier). As noted,…
Battery Technologies
The battery is the critical technology for electric vehicles, providing both energy and power storage. Unfortunately, the weak link of batteries has been their low energy storage capacity-on a weight…
Safety Of Lightweight Vehicles
Several of the advanced vehicles examined by OTA will be extremely light. For example, one of the 2015 advanced conventional vehicles weighs less than 2,000 pounds. An examination of the…
Emissions Performance
Reductions in vehicular emissions are a key goal of programs to develop advanced technology vehicles. In California, it is the only explicit goal, although other considerations, such as economic development,…
Performance And Cost Of Other Types Of Light-Duty Vehicles
Most of the results of OTA’s analyses of mid-size autos apply similarly, on a percentage basis, to other auto size classes—such as subcompacts—and to light trucks. There are, however, some…
