Cated (Car Assistant to Efficient Driving) is a combination of of hardware - sensor - and software for the cellphone aiming to efficient driving by reducing consumption, evaluate the general state of health of the vehicle and provide information and performance for driving fans. The apps are available at the Ovi Store and Android market, and include:
The Obama administration proposed Wednesday increasing cars’ fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, a White House energy priority that has come under scrutiny in Congress.
“We expect this programme will not only save consumers money, but ensure automakers have the regulatory certainty they need to make key decisions,” transportation secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
Current standards require automakers to raise efficiency from 27 miles per gallon today to 35.4mpg by 2016.
Targets beginning in 2017 would require a 5% annual efficiency gain for cars and 3.5 to 5% for light trucks, which include SUVs, pick-ups and vans.
Thirteen major automakers, including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota and Honda have signed on to the fuel deal.
When describing something that is gaining momentum, we still use the expression “gaining steam,” a throwback to the era of steam power. And if it seems ridiculous to refer to a technology that old, consider that we’re still driving around in cars using internal combustion engines, which first started to “gain steam” over 100 years ago.
Most people believe the future of automobiles is in battery-powered electric engines, which would influence the design of the vehicles themselves; the concept of having small separate engines for each wheel, in particular, opens up some exciting possibilities for transportation designers. But there’s still a chance things won’t go that way, as there are still companies tinkering around with the internal combustion engine and actually making breakthroughs.
Ford said today that it plans to introduce fuel-saving start-stop technology on many vehicles starting in 2012 and will show the feature in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Generally, start-stop systems save fuel by turning an engine off when the vehicle is idling and quickly restarting it when the driver releases the brake or steps on the gas pedal.
Ford estimates that its system improves fuel economy by 4% to 10%, depending on driving conditions.
In Europe, start-stop systems have become common on cars with manual transmissions. In North America, the technology is common on gasoline-electric hybrids, including the Ford Fusion Hybrid.
Via Freep.com
Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize - part of the X Prize series - is a $10 million competition aimed at advancing the technology for more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The competition, which began in 2007 with 136 vehicles from 111 teams, required that the vehicles achieve 100 miles per gallon or the energy equivalent. While two of winning vehicles reached that goal with electric power plants, the top winner, the Edison2, did it with an internal combustion engine.
Sitting on a 100-inch wheelbase, the Edison2 has a chassis of welded steel tubing and a body that resembles a small helicopter, but the entire vehicle weighs just 830 pounds. A rear-mounted, single-cylinder motorcycle engine burns a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline to make about 40 horsepower.
The decision to go for combustion engine rather than electric is based on battery weight. According to Oliver Kuttner, Founder & CEO of Edison2, battery weight is a limiting factor when aiming to maximize efficiency.
A combustion engine winning the X Prize and beating electric powered cars shows that there is still room for improvement within this technology in which the existing car fleet is based on. The Efficiency Garage is aiming to further explore such available opportunities.
Via NYTimes
Conceptualization Efficiency Garage, a service that makes cars up to 30% more fuel efficient by applying small modifications. The road to zero emission mobility includes the improvement of combustion engine fuel efficiency.
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