What Else Can We Do in Designing Efficient Cars of the Future?
The other day our think tank was discussing all the various ways to get more fuel efficiency out of our future cars.
Different manufacturers use different techniques, technology and strategies to achieve these lofty goals.
One thing I find is that all the extra belts on an engine create a significant amount of drag and over tax the motor.
All the electrical paraphernalia that demands power from the vehicle causes the gas mileage to deteriorate.
This is why so many folks are proponents of 42-volt electrical systems.
42-volt electrical systems give much more power to the systems.
Like hydraulics, this extra power can be harnessed without significant burden or stress on the overall motor, saving fuel.
Anytime you can remove drag from the motor or increase the conversion rate of direct energy to the wheels in an efficient manner you decrease the needed fuel consumption to operate the vehicle.
In aviation we think about:
Weight is a huge issue, you indicated removal of interior pieces, lift on an aircraft is the opposite force of weight, but you may consider a strategy to allow the ground cushion traveling under the car to lift the car slightly, less weight thus less friction on the ground.
Same consideration as proper tire inflation or skinnier tires like on a Tour de' France bicycle.
With power, you are working on ways to get more performance from the same power.
They say that to increase the quarter mile time of a sports car by one-tenth of a second you have to discharge 100-150 lbs.
of course the laws of diminishing returns come into play.
You cannot presently afford to build your car out of titanium and a top fuel dragster funny car body.
Aerodynamics gets the most ROI at speeds where the co-efficient of drag goes hyperbolic, for your vehicle around 50 mph is where it starts to really matter.
Other than that you get huge benefits out of reducing weight and drag on the engine.
Once you reduce your drag the best you can you have reached a point of diminishing returns and it's time to refocus energies somewhere else to shore up other inefficiencies first.
Otherwise you may as well scrap the vehicle and start from scratch.
If you want your air-conditioner to work best then use some tricks of air-flow dynamics from a CAD CAM program, once you use the best possible airflows you need less air-conditioning to cool the same area.
You reduce need or demand, thus you need less supply, therefore less power needed to the unit.
They use these programs for office building and manufacturing facilities to reduce energy consumption.
You car is a box basically, enclosed, same exact problem, so use a similar approach.
I hope I have given you a few ideas and thoughts for today, be well.
Different manufacturers use different techniques, technology and strategies to achieve these lofty goals.
One thing I find is that all the extra belts on an engine create a significant amount of drag and over tax the motor.
All the electrical paraphernalia that demands power from the vehicle causes the gas mileage to deteriorate.
This is why so many folks are proponents of 42-volt electrical systems.
42-volt electrical systems give much more power to the systems.
Like hydraulics, this extra power can be harnessed without significant burden or stress on the overall motor, saving fuel.
Anytime you can remove drag from the motor or increase the conversion rate of direct energy to the wheels in an efficient manner you decrease the needed fuel consumption to operate the vehicle.
In aviation we think about:
- Aerodynamics
- Weight
- Power
- Lift
Weight is a huge issue, you indicated removal of interior pieces, lift on an aircraft is the opposite force of weight, but you may consider a strategy to allow the ground cushion traveling under the car to lift the car slightly, less weight thus less friction on the ground.
Same consideration as proper tire inflation or skinnier tires like on a Tour de' France bicycle.
With power, you are working on ways to get more performance from the same power.
They say that to increase the quarter mile time of a sports car by one-tenth of a second you have to discharge 100-150 lbs.
of course the laws of diminishing returns come into play.
You cannot presently afford to build your car out of titanium and a top fuel dragster funny car body.
Aerodynamics gets the most ROI at speeds where the co-efficient of drag goes hyperbolic, for your vehicle around 50 mph is where it starts to really matter.
Other than that you get huge benefits out of reducing weight and drag on the engine.
Once you reduce your drag the best you can you have reached a point of diminishing returns and it's time to refocus energies somewhere else to shore up other inefficiencies first.
Otherwise you may as well scrap the vehicle and start from scratch.
If you want your air-conditioner to work best then use some tricks of air-flow dynamics from a CAD CAM program, once you use the best possible airflows you need less air-conditioning to cool the same area.
You reduce need or demand, thus you need less supply, therefore less power needed to the unit.
They use these programs for office building and manufacturing facilities to reduce energy consumption.
You car is a box basically, enclosed, same exact problem, so use a similar approach.
I hope I have given you a few ideas and thoughts for today, be well.
