Quote:
Originally Posted by geomartin
Do you have any thoughts on Well to Wheels or Plug to Wheels measurements?
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Well, I understand the reason to try this as a means to level the field between cars that are ICE powered, and those that are hybrid or electric only. At the end of the day though, any such system is likely to be controversial to one group or another, (or all groups
) depending on where the arbitrary equivalents are set. It's an apples vs. oranges thing, and will probably never be resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
For my part, I regard these kinds of "competitions" more like playing golf. As you have no input over what other entrants are doing, it's best to concentrate on competing with only yourself. That's why I would like to see that the measurements done on my car are as accurate and repeatable as possible.
My result here last year (using the first click pump method) was a very satisfying 73 mpg. The car was brand new then, and as I didn't know what to expect of it, that seemed like a great mark. Now though, I've put well over 10k miles on the car, and as I have never been able to approach that number again, I now see it (nice as it is!) as unreliable. I have though, occasionally posted numbers in the mid-sixties, and have an average of 55 mpg overall. That's why my result in this years event, an all-time low, nearly 30% below my every day, street driving average, seems very suspect to me.
I intend to build a plug-in "test tank" that can be quickly and easily substituted for the in-car tank. It's advantage in any sort of competition is obvious, as any weight test will involve only the actual fuel, plus a few ounces for the plastic tank. Any discrepancies in the scale then will give linear errors in the result, unlike the compounding effect that we see when weighing the whole car.
More than that though, I think such a tank will be a great everyday development tool, allowing for meaningful evaluations of car mods and driving techniques without having to drive all the miles needed to make ordinary tank fills accurate.
Tom