Fuel efficiency

Fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are huge priorities in the aviation industry – passenger airliners chew through amazing quantities of fuel. Take the Boeing 747, which guzzles somewhere around a gallon of jet fuel per second – it's clear that a percentile improvement in fuel consumption can make a huge difference to costs at the end of a long-haul flight. That's why the Minix wing tip deserves close scrutiny. It replaces the tilted winglets at the tip of an aircraft wing, can be retrofitted to any airplane, and smooths out the wing-tip vortex, reducing the aircraft's wing drag. Minix claims the design is five times more effective than a regular winglet and can save as much as 6% on an aircraft's energy costs. For a commercial Boeing 747, that equates to a saving of around 600,000 gallons of fuel per year, per aircraft. Food for thought.  Read More

A five year Shell Eco Marathon fuel efficiency record has been smashed by a team of French students. Team Polyjoule broke the record on the first day of the event by recording an astounding result of 4,414 kilometers on the equivalent of one liter of fuel (that's 10,382 mpg). The team then went on to break its own record by a further 482 kilometers. But the students still expect even more from their hydrogen fueled vehicle and are already looking toward next year's Marathon.  Read More

Mercedes-Benz is now equipping its popular C-Class 180 CGI, 200 CGI and 220 CDI models with BlueEFFICIENCY. Featuring six-speed manual transmissions and ECO start/stop functionality, the company says this technology will reduce the vehicles’ fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 10 percent . The newly-configured C 220 CDI will now consume only 4.4L/100km and CO2 emissions drop to 117g/km. Also added to the line-up for the first time is the C 250 CDI 4MATIC Blue EFFICIENCY four-cylinder 4WD diesel.  Read More

Mazda's innovative i-stop engine-idling-stop system has won yet another award, this time at the lchimura Industrial Awards. While idling stop systems are now becoming commonplace due to the approximate 10% fuel savings they offer, conventional engine stop systems rely on a motor to restart the engine, whereas Mazda's i-stop restarts the engine through combustion: fuel is directly injected into a cylinder while the engine is stopped and ignited to generate downward piston force. Mazda's use of principles unique to the direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engine restarts the engine in just 0.35 seconds, about half the time of most other competing systems, while minimizing noise and vibration and drain on the batteries.  Read More

Hyundai has announced that its all-new 2011 Sonata will be the first vehicle to offer gasoline direct-injection (GDI), twin-scroll turbochargers and full-hybrid powertrains. Unveiled at the New York auto show, the Sonata Hybrid is Hyundai’s first hybrid in the US market. Its Hybrid Blue Drive can operate on an electric motor, gasoline internal combustion engine or a combination of the two depending on driving conditions and driver demands. It's also the only hybrid using lithium polymer battery technology.  Read More

While there are fuel consumption standards for passenger cars, there is no such regulation of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in the U.S. With such vehicles accounting for about 26 percent of the transportation fuel used in the U.S. regulators are looking to establish fuel economy standards for these vehicles in the next few years. Now a new U.S. report has been released recommending the best ways to measure and regulate fuel economy for these vehicles, and assess technologies that could improve it. Amongst its findings, the report says that some vehicles could cut their fuel use by about 50 percent through the use of a combination of technologies.  Read More

Next week at the 2010 New York Auto Show, Chevrolet will be unveiling the compact 2011 Cruze Eco. Visually, this car isn’t going to be big news – it’s OK, but nothing you haven’t seen before. With a six-speed manual transmission, however, it should achieve an estimated 40mpg on the highway – what Chevrolet calls “hybrid-like” fuel efficiency. With that kind of mileage, but without a hybrid’s complexity or price tag, the Eco could prove pretty popular. By comparison, the hybrid Toyota Prius and Honda Insight get 49 and 43mpg highway, respectively, while the non-hybrid Honda Civic sedan gets 34.  Read More

Hungarian designers Antro are aiming to introduce a new fuel efficient vehicle to the consumer market by 2012 which will rely on the muscle-power of driver and passengers as well as a hybrid fuel/electric engine. The designers are also looking to have the three-seater SOLO link up to another to make one vehicle capable of carrying six people.  Read More

The Revenge Verde is an American-made supercar using “the best of the best” parts sourced from a range of supercar manufacturers. The mid-engined Verde offers three drive chain and power train options, including an HP2g V8 engine that runs on E-85 ethanol fuel and produces 400hp, goes from 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds with a top speed of 200mph+, while achieving an amazing 100mpg. We had a chance to chat with Peter Collorafi, the CEO/President of Revenge Design Inc, as well as Doug Pelmear, CEO of HP2g to find out more about the car's development. Check out in our video after the jump.  Read More