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Old 12-21-2011, 10:12 PM   #7 (permalink)
drmiller100
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Join Date: Dec 2011
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seems to me there are 3 major uses of fuel.

One is overcoming aerodynamic drag.
One is overcoming rolling resistance.
One is accelerating the vehicle.

Of the three, I suspect the middle one is the least significant.

I agree aero drag would be MUCH easier to calculate at higher speeds.

Also, I suspect some of your curve is actually from the wheels energy being non linear with respect to speed - the wheels are rotating, so they give energy to the system as a function of the square of the mph.

accelerating the vehicle is a function of rotational inertia and weight of the vehicle.
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