Posted on Monday 5 May 2008
The pinch of significantly higher U.S. fuel economy standards is beginning to get automakers talking about how they plan to meet the challenge, and Hyundai has announced a two-pronged approach. Better engine and drivetrain technology will get the company half way to its goal, and the rest will be handled by lighter materials and more efficient accessories.
Because the new CAFE rules base the fuel economy requirements on the footprint of the vehicle - the area enclosed by the car’s wheels - Hyundai has a target of 37.5mpg average by 2015 for its cars and trucks combined. Making the engine more efficient, decreasing weight and rolling resistance and lightening the load of accessories on the engine will combine to boost efficiency to the required levels, reports Automotive News.
Direct injection technology should yield between 3% and 6% on its own according to Hyundai. Increasing the availability of six-speed automatics will also help - initially on all V6-engined American models, then after 2010, even four-cylinder models except for the very smallest cars.
Other savings can be gained from aerodynamics, low rolling resistance tires, more electrically efficient LED lights and electric power steering. The common hydraulic power steering costs as much as 1mph against its electric alternative, thanks to the drain on the engine plus the extra weight in the form of belts, pulleys and pumps. Electric power steering achieves the same end result with less weight and rotating mass tied to the engine, improving efficiency.
Just throw all useless metal away and replace it with CF. It is safer than metal when done properly and many times lighter. Cars should weigh 2/3 of what they weigh now, if not even less.
Carbon Fiber is a non starter for mass production for the foreseeable future.
There are a lot of materials - aluminum, magnesium, etc which fit the current production lines more easily than CF, and give a significant weight saving over steel. As Audi and Jaguar found, you can save a lot of weight out of the body in white, but quite a lot of that weight gets put back in with all the extras that come with the luxury cars - heated/cooled seats - etc.
The Audi A2 showed what can be done in a small light vehicle, but was not a success due to being slightly too small at the price point it was aimed at.
PJE is right. Even Aluminium is extremely hard to work with because the body panels can be hard to shape.
I wonder if these new CAFE rules are going to spawn a bunch of light cars with huge wheelbases, with the wheels at the furthest corners of the vehicle. I suggest this since the article mentions that the severity of the economy requirement is proportional to ‘footprint’ (wheelbase?).
CF will get cheaper in next five years. Aluminium and magnesium are way too expensive for small cars and will eventually be replaced by CF.
Not so sure about CF being used any time soon as it is currently in short supply and very expensive. CF is an odd product because currently as its demand increases so does its price.
As for magnesium, have you ever seen that stuff burn. There is a reason why race teams no longer use it for their wheels.
So I’d say aluminum will win for the near future until CF can be produced in a cheap way and by mass quantities.