Article: 9 efficiency technology trends to watch at the 2014 LA Auto Show

[MetroMPG]

Here's a decent article with some good graphs. You do love graphs, don't you?

http://blog.ucsusa.org/top-9-technol...-auto-show-731

Summary:

(1) Fuel economy improvements in all segments

(2) Gasoline direct injection, turbocharging and engine downsizing

(3) Hybrid improvements

With the efficiency gap closing between hybrids & non-hybrids, the case for going hybrid is getting harder to justify, especially when gas prices fall.

This graph (source: EPA) suprised me:



(4) Cylinder deactivation

Wonder if/when we're going to see a 4-to-2 system in North America. VW has already quantified the MPG benefits.

(5) Start-stop systems

On non-hybrid vehicles, that is.

About 6% of vehicles in 2014 are expected to have start-stop technology.

This is an obvious middle-hanging fruit, though average drivers (traditional gearheads especially) seem to hate them. Honda says it specifically omitted stop/start from the new U.S. Fit for "consumer acceptance" reasons.

(6) Transmissions

More gears, more CVT's, more automated dual clutch manuals, fewer conventional manuals?

Another telling graph:



(7) High strength, lightweight materials

(8) Electric vehicles

(9) Diesel vehicles

One trend that is apparent from EPA’s analysis is that manufacturers tend to get the most improvements out of diesel’s in the smaller vehicle segment

See the full article: Top 9 Technology Trends to Watch at the 2014 LA Auto Show - The Equation

[MetroMPG]

The article makes multiple references to the U.S. EPA's Fuel Economy Trends report.

Here's the link to the 2014 report:

Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 - 2014 | OTAQ | US EPA

[Hersbird]

you left out #7 which is the biggest thing in trucks right now

(7) High strength, lightweight materials
Ford made big news last year with the adoption of aluminum body panels on the redesigned F150, while the BMW i3 also turned some heads with its use of a carbon fiber body. Using more light weight high strength materials is expected to be an on-going trend to help reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel economy.

What to look for at the auto show: More announcements around increased use of lightweight materials in both body and drive train components.

Also I see nothing about aerodynamics. I wonder if that is because it means so little in the EPA testing as they really don't have a 75 MPH sustained interstate mileage test even if that is what millions of cars are out there doing everyday.

[niky]

Aerodynamics do mean a lot, but they've been in focus for a long time, now... grille shutters have been around for the past few years, already... so it's not really a new thing.

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RE: EVs: Still not seeing where we're getting renewable hydrogen... and how it would be better than pure electrics, unless Hydrogen Fuel Cells come down tremendously in terms of price... we'll see how it goes when Toyota and Hyundai release their mass market FCVs...

[oil pan 4]

I would call auto stop start tech fruit that has already fallen.
They have had it in Japan for almost 20 years now and it works.
The only question is "why not"?

Renewable hydrogen, no such thing, it comes from natural gas.
You can split hydrogen from water but there is no where close to an economically viable reason to do so.

[NeilBlanchard]

We really need to add EV's to these graphs. They point to the fact that drivetrain efficiency is paramount.

The average EV achieves ~105MPGe (my WAG). FOUR times higher than the average ICE.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

you left out #7 which is the biggest thing in trucks right now

(7) High strength, lightweight materials

Oops - thanks for pointing that out.

Even the runt of the litter Mitsu Mirage's engineers put it on a strict diet, with high strength steel in the structure and trimmed weight throughout. Thus the sub-2k lbs weight in U.S. trim and the flimsiest plastic wheelcovers this side of DIY coroplast discs. But losing a hundred and fifty lbs from an econobox isn't as exciting as dropping ~700 from a giant pickup.

Also I see nothing about aerodynamics.

Yup - huge oversight in the list.

I wonder if that is because it means so little in the EPA testing as they really don't have a 75 MPH sustained interstate mileage test even if that is what millions of cars are out there doing everyday.

I think we need to compare the ratings of 2 vehicles that have the same drivetrain but different aero characteristics (and which AREN'T also cheating by using the "same drivetrain = same rating" loophole that was closed because of Ford's silliness).

But the EPA 5-cycle highway segment actually has a stretch at ~60 mph, a run up to ~80 mph, followed by another stretch at ~70 mph. Looks like aero does count, provided the manufacturers use realistic coastdown data to set up the dyno ... ahem, cough Hyundai/Kia cough.

Originally Posted by niky

Aerodynamics do mean a lot, but they've been in focus for a long time, now... grille shutters have been around for the past few years, already... so it's not really a new thing.

Still tons of room for improvement.