Search Results

Nissan has released our original HEV system in Japan on November 2010, and will release it in US market on March 2011. The 1 motor 2 clutch parallel type using conventional 7 speed automatic transmission has been employed without torque converter and with a manganese cathode and laminated type Li-ion Battery. This system is well recognized its higher efficiency but lower weight and cost, however, has never realized due to technical difficulties of smoothness. At this session, performance achievements and hinged breakthrough technologies will be presented. Presenter Tetsuya Takahashi, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Automobiles and light trucks are important sources of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide. Continued fuel economy improvements for these vehicles, using available, cost-effective, marketable fuel economy technology can hold CO2 emissions constant through the year 2000. An aggressive effort to improve fuel economy through 2001 could hold CO2 emissions in 2015 to near present levels. CO2 emissions can be reduced by controlling the growth of vehicle travel, but this is likely to be a very costly strategy. Recent trends, such as declining new car MPG, increasing market share of light trucks, and a growing gap between federal test MPG and on-road performance, indicate that a 50% increase in light duty vehicle CO2 emissions by 2015 is not out of the question.

Consumer behavior in the choice of motor fuel for flexible or dual-fuel vehicles will be a key factor in creating and maintaining stable markets for new fuels. This paper presents an analysis of refueling behavior of natural gas vehicle owners based on a survey of natural gas vehicles in Canada. Models of owner satisfaction and frequency of CNG choice are estimated to evaluate the importance of performance, range, refueling convenience, and other factors in the fuel choice decision. The cost advantage of natural gas is of paramount importance for Canadian natural gas vehicle users. Refueling convenience is also essential for overall satisfaction as well as being a major factor in frequency of natural gas use. Alternative fuels will not only have to be cost-competitive with gasoline but, initially, will require a cost advantage to overcome range limitations and refueling inconvenience.

The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for automobiles and light trucks were intended to improve energy efficiency primarily through technological improvements. While it is not clear how much of the impetus for manufacturers to improve fuel economy should be attributed to CAFE, trends in light duty vehicle sales and characteristics since CAFE went into effect in 1978 do indicate that technological improvements contributed importantly to the over 40% increase in automobile fuel economy. Size class shifts are responsible for only 10% of the total gain. Size class shifts have been more important to light trucks, accounting for 18% of the mpg improvement since 1978. The 1978-1986 market for automotive efficiency reflects interactions of demand shifts, regulation, and technological change. Reconsideration of CAFE should begin by seeking to understanding these factors and their history.

In model year 1983, new car MPG declined for the first time in ten years. Accompanying this decline in MPG, the size of the average car increased, car weights and engine sizes increased and diesel sales declined - all reversing their movements over the previous ten years. Using carline MPG estimates and sales figures, it is estimated that new car MPG declined 0.29 in 1983 after rising 6.70 MPG over the previous four years. Furthermore, it is estimated that actions by new car buyers would have lowered the 1983 MPG 0.40 MPG through the purchase of larger cars, cars with larger engines and fewer diesel engines if the manufacturers had not made some fuel economy improvements and introduced some new high-MPG cars. A simple model of future fuel use increases as a function of MPG levels below a specified level consistent with the CAFE standards shows that the costs of lower fuel economy will only gradually be felt, but that these costs will increase over time and persist for over a decade.