Gas mileage is something that is on many people’s minds these days. With gas prices at all time highs and the economy in a recession, people are looking to get more bang for their buck when it comes to their transportation. This, and attempts to reduce the consumption of natural gas and lessen the accumulation of greenhouse gases has caused many in the auto industry to look for new technologies and methods to increase gas mileage.
Some of these methods are rather simple, such as simply making a car’s frame more aerodynamic. A recent improvement is having the fuel supply to the engine shut off when decelerating, thereby reducing the fuel wasted needlessly. In many Hybrid vehicles (which will be detailed later) and other cars, their exists a feature that stops a car when it’s idling, reducing the fuel wasted by breaking a slightly moving car every time you reach a stop light or traffic. Nissan has recently been a big proponent of “Continuously Variable Transmission” which eliminates gears and uses a pulley system instead, which allows any speed to be a good speed for fuel efficiency. Also, things like steering and air conditioning have been altered to draw upon electric power rather than the engine (which generates the electricity intrinsically) so less fuel is used on anything other than moving.
Among the most revolutionary technologies are Hybrid Vehicles, which use a combination of internal combustion engines and electric motor(s) as opposed to just the former in most vehicles. Hybrid Vehicles are growing in popularity and come in all shapes and sizes, but they are universally more efficient than regular vehicles when it comes to gas mileage. Some have combustion engines that work in conjunction with the electric motor and others have a combustion engine that “kicks in” at a certain speed. These engines rely on electricity gained from various sources, some of which you plug-in, and others that just have a fuel cell, but most also recapture energy that would be otherwise lost as heat. These vehicles are shown to be much more Earth-friendly than normal cars, but have a price tag too high for many people to afford, due to the advanced technologies and rare materials used in their production.
By and large, fuel efficiency has been improving in newer vehicles, as the cost and side effects of normal fuel is becoming a environmental and economic concern. I’m sure there will be many new innovations in the years to come and the use of these methods will become more and more commonplace.
References:
http://www.carpress.co.uk/automotive-news/green-car-news/
http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-10863_7-10009562.html
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/hybrids-not-the-only-answer-1.aspx