Search Results

Data from the Nationwide Personal Transportation Study (NPTS) and other sources have been used to generate distributions of vehicle miles traveled (VMT), average speed, and fuel consumption as a function of trip length. Approximately one third of all automobile travel in the U.S. is seen to consist of trips no more than ten miles in length. Because short trips involve more frequent stops and a smaller percentage of operation during warmed-up conditions, nearly half of the fuel used by automobiles is consumed during the execution of these short trips. The typical trip of approximately ten miles in length has been shown to result in a fuel economy that is equal to the average fuel economy achieved for all trips combined.

The use of fuel economy data from the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) has provided a substantial amount of data on the fuel economy of passenger cars in urban driving conditions. Since the FTP does not represent the type of driving done in rural areas, especially on highways, a driving cycle to assess highway fuel economy was a desirable supplement to the FTP. The new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “highway” cycle was constructed from actual speed-versus-time traces generated by an instrumented test car driven over a variety of nonurban roads and highways. This cycle reflects the correct proportion of operation on each of the four major types of nonurban roads and preserves the non-steady-state characteristics of real-world driving. The average speed of the cycle is 48.2 mph and the cycle length is 10.2 miles, close to the average nonurban trip length.

This paper discusses some trends and influencing factors in passenger car fuel economy. Fuel economy and fuel consumption were calculated by a carbon balance method from HC, CO, and CO2 emissions measured by the 1972 Federal Test Procedure. The information presented was derived from nearly 4000 tests of passenger cars ranging from 1957 production models to 1975 prototypes. Data are presented for various model year and vehicle weight categories. Trends in fuel economy are discussed on an overall sales-weighted basis and for each individual weight class. Some of the factors that influence fuel economy are quantified through the use of a regression analysis. Particular emphasis is placed on the differences in fuel economy between those vehicles that were subject to federal emission regulations and those vehicles that were not. Three ways to characterize vehicle specific fuel consumption are presented and discussed.

The fuel economy data obtained from the emission tests run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been used to show passenger car fuel economy trends from model year 1957 to present. This paper adds the 1975 model year to the historical trend and concentrates on comparisons between the 1975 and 1974 models. Methodologies which allow different 1975 vs 1974 comparisons to be made have been developed. These calculation procedures allow the changes in fuel economy to be determined separately for emission control systems, new engine-vehicle combinations and model mix shifts. Comparisons have been calculated not only for the fleet as a whole but for each of the 13 manufacturers who were certified as of the time this paper was prepared. The net change in fuel economy for the fleet has been estimated at +13.8% comparing the 1975 models to the 1974 models assuming no model mix change occurs.