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Title: Technological growth of fuel efficiency in european automobile market 1975–2015

Journal Article · · Energy Policy
 [1];  [2]
  1. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

This paper looks at the technological growth of new car fleet fuel efficiency in the European Union between 1975 and 2015. According to the analysis results, from1975 to 2006 the fuel efficiency technology improvements were largely offset by vehicles' increased weight, engine size, and consumer amenities such as acceleration capacity. After 2006, downsizing in weight and engine capacity was observed in new car fleet, while fuel consumption decreased by 32% between 2006 and 2015. We adopt a statistical method and find that from 1975 to 2015, a 1% increase in weight would result in 0.3 to 0.5% increments in fuel consumption per 100 km, and a 1% reduction in 0-100 km/h acceleration time would increase fuel consumption by about 0.3%. Impacts of other attributes on fuel consumption are also assessed. To meet the European Union's 2021 fuel consumption target, downsizing of cars, as well as at least maintaining fuel efficiency technology growth trend observed between 2005 and 2015, are needed. Lastly, government policies on controlling improvement in acceleration performance or promoting alternative fuel vehicles are also important to achieve European Union 2021 target.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1339511
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1359073
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5400-67715
Journal Information:
Energy Policy, Vol. 98, Issue C; ISSN 0301-4215
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 24 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle as a Power Plant: Techno-Economic Scenario Analysis of a Renewable Integrated Transportation and Energy System for Smart Cities in Two Climates journal December 2019
The Technological Progress of the Fuel Consumption Rate for Passenger Vehicles in China: 2009–2016 journal June 2019
A novel method to improve vehicle energy efficiency: Minimization of tire power loss
  • Sina, Naser; Hairi Yazdi, Mohammad Reza; Esfahanian, Vahid
  • Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, Vol. 234, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1177/0954407019861241
journal July 2019

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