Fuel Consumption and

Elasticity of Vehicles
MEE 6024 Vehicle Aerodynamics
Lecture – 6
Dr. Y. Mukkamala
Maximum Speed
Maximum speed has become secondary vis-à-vis
fuel economy.
However, most European manufacturers,
particularly for the sporty models, still quote the
top speed as a major design criterion.
German manufacturers have limited the top speed
of their cars to 250 kmph (156 mph) by electronic
measures.
Tractive power may be expressed as
P F V
T T
At maximum speed point,
P
T ,Vmax
Vmax 
F
T ,Vmax
Drive train efficiency between transmission input
and tire patch of driving wheels
P
  T
D P
b,T

Pb,T is the engine brake power used to provide

traction (and does NOT include the engine power
Pb,A required to drive vehicle accessories).
 (P )
Vmax  D b,T
F
T ,Vmax
An approximate equation for maximum velocity is
Pb, nom
Vmax  1003
k.CD .A
Pb,nom is the advertised maximum engine
power in kW, and the vehicle speed Vmax
is in kmph.
The constant “k” accounts for many
factors, some of which are ; Drive
efficiency ηD, Pb,nom (different from
Pb,V_max), vehicle mass, Pb,V_max etc.
Typical values for k, are 14 < k < 18.
Figure 3.9 which indicates the variation of
Vmax vs Pb,nom was obtained by evaluating
the equation for Vmax at k = 16.
Acceleration Time

F  F  R  D  m(1  ) dV
T T i dt

ΔFT is the surplus tractive force, while εi is the

gear train ratio.
Instantaneous Maximum acceleration is
dV F
amax   T
dt m(1  )
i

The corresponding road speed is

t . t .
V  3.6  Vdt (kmph)  2.24  Vdt (mph)
0 0
In Europe, traditionally, the time required
to accelerate from 0 to 100 kmph is quoted
as acceleration capability.
In USA it is the time to accelerate from 0-
60 mph.
Elasticity : is defined as the time required
to accelerate from 80 kmph to 120 kmph,
and in top gear.
Sometimes a lower limit of 40 or 60 kmph
may be used.
Compound acceleration sometimes does
not agree very well with test results.
This is because actual engine power may
vary between ±5% with respect to the
nominal value.
Further, if steady state data is used, the
computations may differ from actual on-
road data due to rapid transients.
 Fuel Consumption
In Europe fuel consumption is specified in liters per
100 km (L/100 km).
Fuel economy, however, states the total distance
that can be traveled for a given volume of fuel (ex :
km/liter).
The two parameters are related as follows
mpg  235.2
L /100(km)
L /100(km)  235.2
mpg
As an example a value of 27.5 mpg which is the
current (as of 2004) regulated standard in the USA
is equivalent to 8.55 L/100 km.
 Analysis of Fuel Consumption
Total fuel consumption is obtained by
integrating instantaneous consumption and
dividing it with total distance traveled.
T.
 bdt
B 0
T
 Vdt
0

Total fuel consumption is a function of

 Powered travel, where FT > 0
 Braking, where FT < 0
 Idling, where V = 0
 Powered Driving
. .
b b P
fuel sfc b,T
.
bsfc is the brake specific fuel consumption,
while, Pb,T is the engine brake power transmitted
to the wheels (doesn’t include power required to
run auxiliaries).
Hence the total fuel consumed for power driving is
.
T . T bsfc P
b (L)   bdt   b,T dt
T 
0 0 fuel
Eliminating Pb,T in the above equation
. P
bsfc ( T )
 T D
b (L)   dt
T 
0 fuel
 Fuel required for driving auxiliaries
.
 T bsfc Pb, A
b (L)   dt
A 
0 fuel

Fuel consumption during braking

T.

b (L)   b dt
b
0 b

Fuel consumption during idling

T .
b [L]   b dt
idle 0 idle
Hence the total fuel consumption
.
b P dt . . .
1 [ sfc b,T  b sfc P ]   bb dt 
 fuel F 0  b dt
idle
b, A F 0 F 0
B[L /100km]  C T
t
T T
 Vdt
0
 Instantaneous Tractive Force (FT > 0)
F  V 2
C A  f G  m(1  ) dV
T 2 D R ff dt

With fuel injection replacing carburetion, direct fuel

cut off is possible during braking, i.e., FT < 0.
The type of fuel cut off strategy deployed, along
with the driving schedule determines the total fuel
consumption during braking and idling.
Driving Schedules
The fuel consumption of a vehicle
depends on
 The velocity profile V(t) obtained from the
driving schedule
 The bsfc map as a function of engine brake
power.
The driving cycles are divided into two
categories :
 “Realistic” cycles are deduced directly from
traffic observations.
 “Synthetic” cycles are obtained after weighing
the speed and acceleration data with
frequency and time durations.
Gear shifts for manual transmissions, for
efficient fuel consumption, are obtained
from the driving routines.
Complete bsfc maps have to obtained for
each engine tested, along with the bmep
data, and engine rpm.
Gear Ratio Matching
Proper gear ratio matching is required for
minimal fuel consumption.
European cars, have the rpm set at 100 rpm
above the nominal engine rpm for top speed,
while driving in top gear.
Light trucks have the rpm set at 400 rpm above
the nominal engine rpm for top speed at peak
power.
Reduction of drag increases the top speed.
Consequently, if the engine operating locus is
not re-established, drag reduction could lead to
increase in fuel consumption.
As an example consider a car, in the
above figure, at an initial CD = 0.35,
operating at transmission ratio of 3.27, at a
bsfc of 280 g/kWh, and speed of 5200
rpm.
If the drag curve for this vehicle were
suddenly reduced to 0.30, the top speed of
the vehicle would increase, along with
shifting to a higher bsfc curve.
Gear Matching Strategy:
 When the drag is reduced, the transmission
ratio is also reduced from 3.27 to 2.92. With
this, the road load curve, and the bsfc curve
are almost re-established, with an increase in
top speed.
In manual transmissions, the relation between
road speed and engine speed is established as
n  2.65 (GR)(FDR)
V rw
n/V indicates the relation between engine speed
and the actual road speed.
Gear Re-Matching strategies for changing CD
a) Change the FDR (Final drive ratio), whereby all the gears are
affected by the same percentage.
b) Change the ratios of different gears proportionally; ex :
1st Gear unchanged; 2nd Gear stepped to 30%; 3rd Gear
to 57%; 4th and 5th Gears to 100%. 100% ratio is from
Strategy (a) – i.e., permanent change in FDR.
c) Stepped re-matching as in (b), but with decreased
weight or increased engine power, to allow higher top
speeds.