article thumbnail

Responsible Battery Coalition and U Michigan launch study to compare electric and gas vehicle lifetime costs

Green Car Congress

The Responsible Battery Coalition, in partnership with the University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems, launched a comprehensive research project to compare the total cost of ownership of gas and electric vehicles (EVs). Gregory Keoleian, Director of the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan.

Michigan 199
article thumbnail

UMTRI: fuel economy improvements are present throughout the sales-weighted distributions of same MY vehicles

Green Car Congress

Building on research that shows average fuel economy has improved 4.5 mpg between model years 2008 and 2014, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle have documented sales-weighted distributions for the same model year vehicles (cars, pickup trucks, vans and SUVs).

article thumbnail

Study finds that increased vehicle travel and decreased occupancy have undercut the impact of improving fuel economy over last 40 years

Green Car Congress

Sivak found that while the vehicle fuel economy of the entire light-duty fleet improved by 40% (from 13 mpg US to 21.6 l/100km), because of the decrease in vehicle load, the occupant fuel economy only improved by 17% (from 24.8 Combining these two effects yields a reduction of about 14% in the amount of fuel used.

article thumbnail

Study finds 6.3% spread in fuel economy obtained with maximum and minimum rolling resistance tires

Green Car Congress

A new report by University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) researcher Dr. Michael Sivak has found a 6.3% spread between the fuel economy obtained with maximum and minimum rolling resistance tires. percent increase compared to the fuel consumed with tires at the current minimum rolling resistance.

article thumbnail

Ford, U Mich study finds greater greenhouse gas reductions for pickup truck electrification than for other light-duty vehicles

Green Car Congress

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Ford Motor Company have conducted a cradle-to-grave life cycle GHG assessment of model year 2020 ICEV, HEV, and BEV sedans, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), and pickup trucks in the United States. The lower and higher limits of each range are results for base and premium models, respectively.

Light 435
article thumbnail

Tenneco/Gentherm showcasing prototype of thermoelectric generator for waste heat recovery; targeting 5% fuel economy improvement

Green Car Congress

Among the objectives of the project is delivering a 5% fuel economy improvement by direct conversion of engine waste heat to useful electric power for light-duty vehicle application. For light duty passenger vehicles, the fuel economy improvement must be measured over the US06 cycle. Doug Crane, Gentherm.

article thumbnail

New UMTRI report on US vehicle fuel economy from 1923-2013 suggests need to focus on improving lower tails in each vehicle class

Green Car Congress

In a new report, researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) have calculated the actual, on-road fuel economy for the entire fleet of all vehicles in the US, and for different classes of vehicles, with primary interest in light-duty vehicles (cars, pickup trucks, vans, and SUVs), between 1923 and 2013.