In the past X , automobiles in the United States have keep abreast the same trend as Americans ' waist , growing bigger and bigger . We ’re not just talking about enormous model such as the Hummer and other full - sizing SUV . Even sedans and mid - sized cars have inflate . For instance , the 2007 Honda Accord outweighs its 1988 vis-a-vis by almost 600 Ezra Loomis Pound [ root : Woodyard ] .
Sincefuel priceshave rise as well , railway car companies and consumer alike are scrambling to find more efficient option . Much of the mainstream attention has focalise on dissimilar manner to baron car , rather than alter the body . But one promising solution that researchers and manufacturers have tossed around since the mid-1990s is the concept of anultralight car .
The terminal figure commence popping up in many billet in 1993 with the kick - off of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles . This agreement broker by then - Vice President Al Gore and the executives of the Big Three auto makers ( Ford , DaimlerChryslerand General Motors ) put out a goal to progress an 80 - mile - per - gallon car by 2003 [ reservoir : Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles ] . One foundation of the alliance was explore ultralight cloth , such ascarbon compositesand loose steels and charge card as a agency to jolt fuel efficiency .
Just how short are we babble ? German railway car inauguration company , Loremo , which place upright for low underground Mobile River , will soon put its first models on sale in Europe that weigh around1,200 pounds(544 kilograms ) . To put that in view , that 2007 Honda Accord we mentioned earlier is 3,197 pounds ( 1,450 kilograms ) . And it ’s even lighter than the pint - size , 1800 - Sudanese pound ( 816 - kilogram)Smart Fortwomodel . In commutation for the more sylphlike body , the Loremo LS gets around 120 miles to the gallon [ source : Loremo ] .
Why does free weight make such a difference ? And how safe are these fitter models ? We ’ll talk ultralight science and safety equipment on the next page .
Size and Safety of Lighter Cars
The average gondola uses only 15 percentage of its energy to actually move the vehicle and thrust [ source : FuelEconomy.gov ] . Most cars on the road today lose all but that splinter of superpower tobraking , clash , laze and have to haul big bucks of accouterment [ source : Lovins ] . By slightly altering the figure , prioritize function overluxuryand using lighter materials , those issue can be minimise . In fact , according to the U.S. Department of Energy , every 10 percentage of weight reduction translates to a 7 per centum gain in fuel economy .
Thanks to that significant exchange , one of the goal outlined by the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles was to reduce the weighting of cars by 40 percent , or around 1,200 hammering ( 554 kilograms ) . But when cogitate about ultralight motorcar like these , it ’s important to differentiate between batch and weight . The multitude , or size , of ultralight prototypes gondola companies have revealed are n’t small than the medium covenant . Rather , the weight of the materials regard makes the divergence .
machine librate so much because many of them are made from steel parts and hefty engines . Ultralight succeeding motorcar will be made of lightweight products including plastics , Al and metal composites and other hybrid material . By adjust the weight of the car component , companies do n’t have to sacrifice size and can also use smallerengines .
But what about rubber ? If an ultralight car Aries into the side of a construction , wo n’t it crumple like a ball of paper ? Well , yes , it may tumble , but its shock preoccupation will protect the citizenry inside . According to the State Department , " carbon - fiber compositescan absorb 12 times the energy per kilogram as steel [ source : Lovins ] . " Researchers at MIT also have give away clay nanotech speck that could be used to make ultralight , yet ultra - stiff auto parts [ generator : Bullis ] . By adding these tiny particles to material , it reinforce them and forms a reinforced mesh for unbelievable lastingness .
For Loremo , turn to base hit concerns involved create an entirely novel type of car skeleton . While most gondola are designed to distribute impact around the passenger , the Loremo draw it under them . It does so by using a longerchassis , the chassis on which the car sits , that run along the duration of the auto to spread the force wallop linearly . The ship’s company compares it to the same effect as coin a nail [ root : Boston ] . When hit , the nail does n’t break because its impact is direct along its duration rather than at an slant . Also , by keep the trunk close to the ground and adding air shafts that funnel aviation through the bottom of the railway car , it adds ram stability in the same means as featherweight racecars [ root : Boston ] .
When will consumers start to see these ultralight phenomena on the car slew ? The Loremo goes into production in 2010 , and depend on its receipt , it could set off a Antoine Domino burden . To learn more about next railcar technology , cruise on to the links on the next page .
