The job of an oxygen sensor in a vehicle is to compare the oxygen content coming out of the exhaust to the oxygen content in the exhaust stream. This helps the vehicle computer determine whether to enrich or lean the fuel mixture, allowing the catalytic converter to operate more efficiently and reduce emissions into the environment. Exhaust byproducts can often block the sensor’s element over time causing poor fuel economy and increased emissions. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Automobile Emissions
New Generation Automobile Buyers
A trend in the automobile industry shows that the younger generation is not as interested in driving as the generation before. Not only are they buying fewer vehicles, but many don’t even have drivers license. Some reasons for this change include:
- The younger generation are more connected through internet and iPhones making them less reliant on owning transportation.
- Many live in urban areas where everything is at a walking distance, there is good public transportation or they have access to car sharing programs.
- Young people are facing soaring tuition costs, and the money they’re earning in their part-time, summer and first jobs is going toward paying for school and rent. Even if they could afford to buy a car, insurance is expensive and gas prices keep rising.
- They have grown up in an era where they have had much more exposure to environmental concerns.
Automakers have known for a while that they were going to have a problem selling vehicles to this generation but are unwilling to believe that they will not want actual cars. As a result, automakers spend more time talking about how well their cars interact with an iPhone than they do about engine performance, ride, and horsepower. Technology such as voice recognition are important to many of the younger drivers because it allows them to safely drive while still staying connected.
They are trying to attract the younger urban buyer by developing a fashionable small car that is easy to park and uses less fuel. Car makers have begun shrinking the size of engines, subtracting cylinders while adding turbochargers to maintain horsepower and acceleration. Smaller engines have become a selling point even in the United States, which would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The idea of electric vehicles has also become more widely accepted.
As these technologies become more common they will also become more affordable, hopefully attracting more buyers. While today’s young buyer seems more open toward the trend of smaller autos with more features, car makers have not abandoned the hope that as this generation gets older and becomes parents they will graduate towards roomier vehicles.
Ford Offers Better Fuel Economy With Google
Ford and Google are working together to develop a tool that will help make Ford’s hybrid vehicles even more efficient. The Application Program Interface (API), also known as Google Predictions, will analyze driver habits using cloud based computing, in order to come up with customized strategies for saving energy. The driver would input their destination and the car would use its stored traffic information to determine the best route. The API would adapt to the drivers driving habits allowing the best fuel efficiency for the driver. The technology is still in a research phase, but Ford hopes to have a working prototype ready for production in four to eight years.
Fewer Cylinders Now Offer More Power
In April of 2010, when the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came out with their national greenhouse gas emission standards, there were concerns about how the new requirements would be received. It was expected that automobile manufacturers would turn to more efficient conventional technologies, while others would go one step further and pursue more advanced fuel saving technologies like diesel, hybrid and electric vehicles. Today, with gasoline prices on a steady rise, Americans are demanding that their new cars not only meet, but exceed the standards set by the government. Because some consumers are still skeptical of the new hybrid and electric technologies, many have chosen to trade in their V-6’s for more fuel efficient four cylinder engines.
Four cylinder engines now account for almost 65% of all vehicles built in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. This is the biggest shift since the 1980’s when consumers traded in their V-8’s for the smaller V-6 engines. It is expected that within the next five years, over half the vehicles in the U.S. will be four cylinder engines. But todays consumers don’t have to give up power to drive the smaller engine vehicles. New technologies have left the underpowered four cylinder engines a thing of the past, and automakers have changed their marketing strategies to focus on the horsepower and fuel economy instead of the number of cylinders a vehicle has.
Ford new generation Explorer will soon offer two liter four cylinder “Eco Boost” engine and are already working on a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine.
BMW, who has not built a four cylinder engine in the U.S. for over a decade is now offering their customers the new Z4 sports car scheduled to go on sale this year, and have also been working on a three cylinder engine.
Hyundai has almost abandoned anything bigger than a four-cylinder, which accounts for nearly 90% of its U.S. sales.
And finally, automobile manufacturers like Honda, Toyota and Nissan, who were once criticized for their small powerless vehicles, are now leaders in the new fuel efficient, environmentally friendly technologies.
California Hybrid Owners Carpool Privileges
California has always been a leader in environmentally friendly living. In 2004 we were one of the first to pass a law restricting vehicles’ greenhouse gas emissions and since then the legislation has been extended twice. One of the stipulations of the legislation gave almost 85,000 hybrid owner access to drive in the carpool lanes. On July 1, these get out of traffic free cards are about to expire, and this has hybrid owners protesting
Since the inception of the law, the amount of hybrid, and now electric vehicles on the road have significantly increased. This increase is starting to make car pool lanes more congested especially in the state of California where the percentage of hybrid is now well over 24%. According to state senator, Fran Pavley, one of the original sponsors of the legislation, “An extension of the carpool lane privileges in unlikely to bear fruit.” She says that taking away these privileges ranks right up there with taking away someones firstborn. She added that the legislation should be extended for at least one more year since vehicles that qualify for the new green sticker program do not go on sale until next year.
National Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have come out with their long awaited national greenhouse gas emissions standards. These standard are expected to significantly increase the fuel economy of all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the United States.
Starting with 2012 models, automakers are required to improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately five percent every year until the established fuel economy standards are met. NHTSA and EPA expect automobile manufacturers will meet these standards by more widespread adoption of conventional technologies that are already in commercial use, such as more efficient engines, transmissions, tires, aerodynamics, and materials, as well as improvements in air conditioning systems.
The new program is expected to:
- Reduces carbon dioxide emissions by about 960 million metric tons over the lifetime of the vehicles regulated, equivalent to taking 50 million cars and light trucks off the road in 2030.
- Conserves about 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the vehicles regulated.
- Enables the average car buyer of a 2016 model year vehicle to enjoy a net savings of $3,000 over the lifetime of the vehicle, as upfront technology costs are offset by lower fuel costs.
Although the standards can be met with conventional technologies, EPA and NHTSA also expect that some manufacturers may choose to pursue more advanced fuel-saving technologies like clean diesel engines, hybrid electric vehicles, and electric vehicles.
