Fuel Efficiency for the 21st century
• Joe Shrader, BS, MAED,PHD.
• March, 2008
• ARRRRRGH!
What does this really mean?
• http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/FEG2000.htm
EPA estimate (2005)
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SMALL SUV - Jeep Liberty Diesel Ltd. (4WD)
EPA CITY MPG: 22
CR CITY MPG: 11
EPA SHORTFALL: 50 percent
HYBRID - Honda Civic Sedan
EPA CITY MPG: 48
CR CITY MPG: 26
EPA SHORTFALL: 46 percent
LARGE SEDAN - Chrysler 300C
EPA CITY MPG: 17
CR CITY MPG: 10
EPA SHORTFALL: 41 percent
MIDSIZED SUV - Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT LT (4WD)
EPA CITY MPG: 15
CR CITY MPG: 9
EPA SHORTFALL: 40 percent
MINIVAN - Honda Odyssey EX
EPA CITY MPG: 20
CR CITY MPG: 12
EPA SHORTFALL: 40 percent
Some others
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LUXURY SEDAN - BMW 745Li
EPA CITY MPG: 18
CR CITY MPG: 11
EPA SHORTFALL: 39 percent
PICKUP - Dodge Ram 1500 SLT (crew cab, 4WD)
EPA CITY MPG: 13
CR CITY MPG: 8
EPA SHORTFALL: 38 percent
FAMILY SEDAN - Oldsmobile Alero GL
EPA CITY MPG: 21
CR CITY MPG: 13
EPA SHORTFALL: 38 percent
LARGE SUV - Dodge Durango Limited (4WD)
EPA CITY MPG: 13
CR CITY MPG: 8
EPA SHORTFALL: 38 percent
SMALL SEDAN - Ford Focus ZX4 SES
EPA CITY MPG: 26
CR CITY MPG: 17
EPA SHORTFALL: 35 percent
FYI: CAFÉ standards
United States: 24.6 mpg (cars and trucks)
27.5 mpg (cars ) (2004)
35 mpg (2020)
European Union: 47 mpg (2012)
Japan:
35.5 mpg (2010)
Australia:
29.1 mpg (2002)
34.4 mpg (2010)
Vehicle selection:
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Use and needs:
What is this vehicle going to be used for?
How many people?
Do I need to pull a trailer/boat etc.
• How often
Vehicle selection:
• How much money do I have to spend on
transportation?
• Purchase price
• Fuel cost/year
• Insurance/year
• Repairs/year
• Upgrades
Vehicle selection:
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Where to buy:
Family
Friends
How to establish price
• Kelly Bluebook
• NADA
• Your bank
Vehicle selection:
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Retail price
Wholesale price
Trade in price
Where/how to finance
– Banks
– “on the lot”
– Credit union
– other
Vehicle selection:
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How to shop
Dealer’s lot
Newspaper
Bargain Trader
On-line
• It is a buyer’s market!! Take your
time……..
Options
• Let us look at some of the GREEN options
available in today’s market.
Hybrids
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Advantages include:
Unlimited miles
Great mileage in city driving
Average fuel savings of 25%, ($600/yr)
Hybrids
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Disadvantages might include:
Higher initial cost ($3-4000)
Only smaller vehicles currently
No advantage (MPG) at highway speeds
Battery life, four years for lead/acid batteries
Cost of battery replacement ($2000)
NiMH cost $20,000-30,000
Service availability
Crash danger of 20 lead/acid batteries
Battery Problems
NiMH = Nickel-metal hydride battery
• You can replace lead-acid batteries with NiMH batteries.
The range of the car will double and the batteries will last
10 years (thousands of charge/discharge cycles), but the
cost of the batteries today is 10 to 15 times greater than
lead-acid. In other words, an NiMH battery pack will cost
$20,000 to $30,000 (today) instead of $2,000. Prices for
advanced batteries fall as they become mainstream, so
over the next several years it is likely that NiMH and
lithium-ion battery packs will become competitive with
lead-acid battery prices. Electric cars will have
significantly better range at that point.
Battery manufacturing
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Lead mined in Canada
Shipped to China for manufacture
Shipped to US for sale
The “carbon footprint” in the manufacture
and shipping of these (20) lead/acid
batteries is equivalent to 3 ½ years of
driving with a gasoline vehicle.
• Recycling these batteries costs up to
$2000/ton
Crashes with electric/hybrid?
• Firefighters and rescue personnel receive
special training to deal with the higher voltages
and chemicals encountered in electric and
hybrid electric vehicle accidents. While BEV
accidents may present unusual problems, such
as fires and fumes resulting from rapid battery
discharge, there is apparently no available
information regarding whether they are
inherently more or less dangerous than gasoline
or diesel internal combustion vehicles which
carry flammable fuels.
For more information:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car
Electric Vehicles
EVs Great variation in style and
cost.
• Limitations include distance. New
batteries will help here, but at substantial
increased costs.
• Recharging at work.
• Electricity is not free energy.
• Usually small commuter vehicles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car
Flex-fuel vehicles
• These vehicles are designed to run on a
variation of different fuels.
• Ethanol fuels now are 90% unleaded gas
and 10% ethanol. Flex-fuel vehicles allow
for up to 85% ethanol.
• These include different sensors in the
vehicle to deal with variations in fuels.
Fuel savings?
• FFVs experience no loss in performance
when operating on E85. However, since a
gallon of ethanol contains less energy than
a gallon of gasoline, FFVs typically get
about 20-30% fewer miles per gallon when
fueled with E85.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexiblefuel_vehicle
Biogasoline/synthetic gas
• Unlike ethanol, the fuel can also be used
in high concentrations in regular gasoline
engines and travel through existing
pipelines, the companies said. In addition,
it will have a higher energy content and be
more fuel efficient than ethanol, the
leading renewable fuel in the U.S. today,
the companies said.
Hydrogen fuel cells
Hydrogen fuel cell
• These cells are expensive storage units.
Batteries if you please.
• Recharging them is a major problem (at
present)
• Adding filling stations would cost 1/2trillion
dollars. (US)
• Still run an electric motor.
Diesel vehicles
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Diesel vehicles have several advantages:
More power
Better MPG, (20-30%)
Longer life
Better resale value
Burn almost any type fuel oil
Higher compression
• Up to 20:1 compression ratio increases
the power proportionately
Diesel
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Disadvantages include:
Higher initial cost ($5,000)
Higher fuel cost (20% more)
Heavier vehicle to support the heavier
engine
• Fuel availability
Diesel?
• In addition to improved fuel economy,
diesels offer other benefits. Compared to
gasoline engines, diesel engines produce
20 to 30 percent less CO2 emissions,
which contribute to climate change. And
turbocharged diesel engines produce far
more torque than gasoline engines,
making them fun to drive and well-suited
to tasks like towing.
Why is Diesel so costly?
• Highway Diesel Fuel
• 500 ppm: Sulfur limit of 500 ppm = 0.05% (wt.) became effective in
October 1993. This fuel, commonly referred to as the low sulfur
diesel fuel, was introduced to facilitate sulfate particulate emission
reductions, which were necessary for meeting the 1994 emission
standards for heavy-duty highway engines.
• 15 ppm: Diesel fuel of maximum sulfur level of 15 ppm will be
available for highway use beginning in June 2006. This fuel, referred
to as the ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD), was legislated by the EPA to
enable catalyst-based emission control devices, such as diesel
particulate filters and NOx adsorbers, which will be necessary for
meeting the 2007-2010 emission standards for heavy-duty engines,
as well as the Tier 2 light-duty standards.
Other choices
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Walking
Bicycling
Mopeds
Roller blades
Motorcycles.
All these have advantages of energy
savings and ease of parking.
Back to driving more fuel efficiently
• We have talked about selection
– Buy fuel efficient vehicles
– Buy what meets your needs
– Doing your homework
Driving more fuel efficiently
• Accelerate slower
Drive at moderate speeds
• 45 MPH is optimum for fuel economy.
Keep moving, anticipate traffic
Increase following distance
• You can’t see
Now you can
Easy does it…
• There is no need to always be in a rush,
plan ahead. Start earlier.
Trip planning
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Combine trips
Call ahead
Avoid rush hour
Avoid traffic lights
Avoid slow, stop and go traffic
Car pooling
Mass transportation
Move closer to work
Don’t draft a truck
Drafting can have severe results
Check your air pressure
Performance module, Chips
Synthetic Oils?
• Oil additives
• Always check your
Owner’s warranty
Carpooling
Carpool lanes
• Over 70% of us drive to work alone
Insurance savings
• If you drive 10 or more miles to work, you
pay 20% more for your insurance.
• If you carpool and average less than 10
miles one way to work, you can save that
20% on your insurance.
Down east carpool
Prices of gas around the world
• Prices are quoted in US dollars per gallon for regular unleaded.
• March 2008 US ($3.25)
Oslo, Norway
$6.82
Hong Kong
$6.25
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Brussels , Belgium
$6.16
London, UK
$5.96
Rome , Italy
$5.80
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Tokyo, Japan
$5.25
Sao Paulo , Brazil
$4.42
New Delhi, India
$3.71
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Sidney , Australia
$3.42
Johannesburg, South Africa
$3.39
Mexico City
$2.22
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Buenos Aires , Argentina
$2.09
Riyadh , Saudi Arabia
$0.91
Kuwait
$0.78
.. YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS ...
• Caracas , Venezuela
$0.12
Fuel costs
• Energy cost is becoming an even more difficult
problem for all of us.
• Your government (despite commercials), is not
trying to lower fuel costs.
• Their goal is for us to use less, therefore, higher
prices help meet their goal. We used 1% less
gas last year (2007). That percentage will be
higher this year as prices go to $4/gallon.
• That is successful! (To your legislature)
You are on your own!
• It is your responsibility to reduce your fuel
and other energy costs.
• Select a better vehicle (MPG)
• Drive more fuel efficiently
• Drive less, carpool, combine trips, etc
• Plan your vehicle use better
• You will spend thousands of dollars this
year on gas, a 10% savings is significant.
• ECU driver education
• http://www.ecu.edu/cs-hhp/hlth/drivered/dred.cfm