All the ways the automobile industry is using to increase gas mileage

“It’s a never ending battle of making your cars better and also trying to be better yourself” and that is what our country has been doing for the last twenty years; trying to make our cars and ourselves better. Chiefly since gas prices skyrocketed in the early 2000’s and the job market fell, it has been a massive concern for all to find a solution to save money on gas. With global warming becoming a pressing topic everyday main car companies such as Honda, Mercedes, Nissan, and Toyota are helping to pave the way for greener and more efficient cars. President Barack Obama released that by the year 2025 car companies have to meet an average quota of 54.5 miles per gallon. This new program states that light trucks will have to become 3.5 percent more efficient for the first four years. The plan also states $1.7 trillion will be saved in fuel costs and oil consumption will be reduced to 2.2 million barrels a day. If this plan works successfully then America will become less dependent upon oil which means less troubles with getting oil from foreign countries, and help us become more energy independent. Large companies like Ford aren’t waiting to get started on increasing gas mileage; they already doubled the size of their team working on energy technologies and plan to double the team again by 2015. Ways in which the automotive industry has been increasing gas mileage is as follows:

Low-Carbon Fuel Standard

Is a rule to reduce carbon intensity in transportation fuels compared to conventional petroleum fuels such as gasoline and diesel. The main purpose of low-carbon fuel standard is standard is to decrease carbon dioxide emissions related to fuel-powered vehicles considering the life-cycles “well to wheels”, to reduce the carbon footprints of transportation overall. They require oil plants and distributers to ensure the fuel sold in Californian market meets the declining targets for greenhouse gas emissions measure in CO2 equivalent grams per unit of fuel energy for transportation.

Hybrid Car

A Hybrid Car combines conventional internal combustion engine system with an electric propulsion system. The electric powertrain is intended to attain better fuel economy or better performance. A hybrid uses regenerative braking which transforms the vehicles kinetic energy into electric energy so that it can charge the battery, rather than wasting it as heat energy such as normal cars do. They have a start stop system that automatically shuts down and restarts internal combustion engine to decrease the time the engine spends idling, reducing fuel consumption and emissions. Hybrids are also extremely popular with the public, over 7 million have been sold worldwide since December 2013. Some disadvantages to a hybrid car is that they are more expensive than a non-hybrid car, they weigh more, and there is a slight risk of being exposed to high voltage wires in a car accident.

Plug-In Hybrid Car

Is a type of hybrid vehicle which exploits rechargeable batteries that can be restored to full charge by connecting a plug to exterior electric power source (commonly electric wall socket). The cost of electric to power to plug-in hybrids is estimated to be less than one quarter the cost of gasoline. They also use no fossil fuel throughout their all-electric range and produce lower greenhouse gas emissions if they are recharged from renewable electricity. San Francisco’s town hall has recharging systems and Google has 100 available charging stations for employees. Cool fact because electric cars run so quietly it is hard for blind people to hear them so as of march 2013 they are inventing warning noises using the speaker system.

Battery Electric Car

A battery-only electric vehicle gets all its power from the battery packs and therefore has no internal combustion engine fuel cell, or fuel tank. The concept of the battery electric car is to use charged batteries on board vehicles for momentum. They are becoming more popular because of the advancement of battery technology Lithium Ion that has higher power and energy density. Vehicle greenhouse gas savings depends on how the electricity is generated, in the U.S. an electrical car would result in 30% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel

Is diesel fuel with considerably lowered sulfur content. As of 2006, almost all of the petroleum-based diesel fuel available in UK, Europe and North America is of a ULSD type. New emissions standards, reliant on on the cleaner fuel, have been in effect for automobiles in the United States since 2007. Ultra-Low-Sulfur diesel does not yet apply to railroad locomotives, marine, or off road uses.

In the future I can foresee even more people buying energy efficient and greener cars if they meet their goal of 54.5 miles per gallon because the cost of the car will outweigh the cost of gas. As the technology advances further, people will feel less hesitant in buying hybrids especially after the batteries are improved. It is also hoped that more charging stations will be put in public places and corporations so that people can charge their car without the fear of being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

References:

Contemporary Science & Innovation

My Blog Posts from Contemporary Science

All the ways the automobile industry is using to increase gas mileage

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