Tiny Car Gets 350 MPG

[TylerDurden]

Tiny Car Gets 350 MPG, Beats Corporate Competitors In Energy Derby

FORBES
Michael Kanellos, Contributor

The race drew teams from Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes and Peugeot, but Gordon Murray Designs walked away the winner.



The T.27, an all-electric car with a lightweight composite chassis, won the Future Car Challenge sponsored by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) by completing a 57.13 mile course between Brighton and London on less energy than its fellow competitors. Carrying two occupants, the T.27 consumed only 7 kilowatt hours of electricity, which is about equal to 350 miles per gallon, according to the company. The total energy bill came to 64 pence, or about $1.03.

Second place went to an electrified Jaguar E-Type from Germany which consumed 8.5 kilowatt hours. Tesla Roadsters, Nissan Leafs, an electrified Citroen, a Honda Insight and a few diesels also competed. (See full results here.)

Besides winning the small car efficiency race, the RAC gave the car the best EV award and best overall entry award.

Murray, a noted race car designer whose cars won world championships at Brabham and McLaren, is on a quest to get cars to lose weight. By swapping out steel components for parts made from structurally strong plastic or composites, car manufacturers can dramatically increase mileage without impacting performance. Less weight, after all, leads directly to better fuel efficiency and/or acceleration.

A T.27, for instance, can go 100 miles on a charge, the same as a Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi i. The T.27, however, only sports a 12.5 kilowatt hour battery pack, which is about half the size of the battery in the other two cars. A smaller battery means quicker charging times and, potentially, a lower sticker price. Last year, Murray’s T.25, a T.27 with a gas engine, beat half of the electric cars in the race with an 80 miles per gallon rating.

Bright Automotive in the U.S. is mining similar concepts with a lightweight delivery truck.

Composite cars can also be cheaper to produce. Instead of steel stamping mills and painting stalls needed for applying rust-proofing, manufacturers only need to invest in software and injection molding machinery. (See our full profile of Murray, his company, and the cars here.)

Murray’s company does not plan on producing cars. Instead, it will license its intellectual property. A deal with an established manufacturer may come next year.

The RAC is the oldest automotive club in the world and held one of the world’s first car rallies in 1896. The contest drew 33 entries and was instrumental in raising the speed limit from 4 miles per hour to 14 mph in Great Britain. The race also convinced lawmakers to get rid of a law that required drivers to hire signal men with red flags to warn of their impending approach.

It’s been downhill for British driving every since.


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[dogman]

One more time, proof that e cars use less energy than gassers. Even the heavy ones do better than gas in mpg equivilant.
Probobally even still pretty good numbers if you factor in the waste heat and other losses involved in getting the wh to your plug.

[Joseph C.]

You have to also take into account that the T27 only holds two people whereas the Leaf etc hold five.

[REdiculous]

You have to also take into account that the T27 only holds two people whereas the Leaf etc hold five.

And if you do the math you'll see that they need to use the full 12.5kwh in order to go 100 miles - the actual range will be closer to 80 miles if you can hypermile (122.5wh/mi) as good as they did.

[JennyB]

You have to also take into account that the T27 only holds two people whereas the Leaf etc hold five.

And if you do the math you'll see that they need to use the full 12.5kwh in order to go 100 miles - the actual range will be closer to 80 miles if you can hypermile (122.5wh/mi) as good as they did.

So 122.5 * 350 means a gallon of petrol is equivalent to nearly 43 kwh? I don't think so. OTOH, 64 pence at British pump prices would buy about half a litre of petrol, or .13 gallons US, which works out at over 430 mpg.

[neptronix]

One more time, proof that e cars use less energy than gassers. Even the heavy ones do better than gas in mpg equivilant.
Probobally even still pretty good numbers if you factor in the waste heat and other losses involved in getting the wh to your plug.

Well, let's see.
A typical gasoline engine wastes 80% of it's input energy as heat.
A typical electric motor uses 80% of it's input energy and turns it into mechanical motion.

You can convert this into MPG ( which is kinda silly anyway imho ) and any electric car looks friggin' awesome.

But in reality electric cars have the upper hand when it comes to:
1) not idling
2) regen
3) no pumping losses from having a larger motor, so you can drive an ultra fast car slowly and get the efficiency of a slow car, minus the extra friction/resistance of bigger tires/axles..
4) simplicity!

OK, i'm done preaching to the choir.

[ZOMGVTEK]

But in reality electric cars have the upper hand when it comes to:
1) not idling
2) regen
3) no pumping losses from having a larger motor, so you can drive an ultra fast car slowly and get the efficiency of a slow car, minus the extra friction/resistance of bigger tires/axles..
4) simplicity!

All very large advantages. However, my car has a 65L fuel tank. Given that gasoline contains about 9.7 kW·h/L, that makes for over 600kWh of energy contained in that tank. That is a whole lot of energy, that I can refill in 2-3 minutes. In 10 years, my fuel tank will still hold 65L of fuel.

That said, I'm not willing to move to electric unless its superior in most every way. It's getting closer, but price and range are both major concerns. I spend about 900-1,200 a year on fuel for my car, so there isnt much room for savings with electric.

[REdiculous]

You have to also take into account that the T27 only holds two people whereas the Leaf etc hold five.

And if you do the math you'll see that they need to use the full 12.5kwh in order to go 100 miles - the actual range will be closer to 80 miles if you can hypermile (122.5wh/mi) as good as they did.

So 122.5 * 350 means a gallon of petrol is equivalent to nearly 43 kwh? I don't think so. OTOH, 64 pence at British pump prices would buy about half a litre of petrol, or .13 gallons US, which works out at over 430 mpg.

Huh? It's simple math...

They went 57.13 miles and pulled 7kwh from the pack so 7000 / 57.13 = 122.52wh/mi.

"350 MPG" is their hype. This page has cool info. 122.52wh/mi is equal to 275MPGe according to that page and my calculator.

I dunno why they're trying to say it can go 100 miles on a 12.5kwh pack because their own test shows it can't work. It would work if you could fully drain the battery (12500 / 122.52 = 102 miles), but you don't really wanna use more than 80% of the rated capacity and usually you wouldn't be allowed to in a production vehicle anyway.

All very large advantages. However, my car has a 65L fuel tank. Given that gasoline contains about 9.7 kW·h/L, that makes for over 600kWh of energy contained in that tank. That is a whole lot of energy, that I can refill in 2-3 minutes. In 10 years, my fuel tank will still hold 65L of fuel.

Yup. I figured my tank holds 500kwh and my vehicle eats about 1250wh/mi (27 MPG) so I should make it right around 400 miles per tank. If their car goes 80 miles per charge then my truck goes 5 times farther even though my truck consumes 10x more energy per mile. Even rolling with their "100 mile per charge" hype, my truck goes 4x farther.

That little car needs to be able to pull 50kwh from its battery in order to go 400 miles so it really needs 65kwh (65*0.8=52kwh usable=425 mile "when new" range). If a 1kwh pack is 22lbs and costs $450.....am I close?.....this silly-efficient electric car needs a $29,250, 1430lb battery.

[ZOMGVTEK]

Clearly, battery tech has a ways to go before its going to be the obvious choice.
I appreciate the fact that my car goes over 400 miles before the fuel light comes on, which happens to be nearly a month for me. With a '100 mile' range EV, i'd probably need to charge it every other day.

That said, I'm fairly strongly considering straying away from combustion engines for my next vehicle. I see the advantages, and can manage the range and recharge limitations.

[joe tomten]

I make electricity in my backyard with my PV installation.

Making hydrocarbon fuels dense enough to waste 70% of it in an engine is an impossibility (edit * an impossibility for me to create on the land base that supports me *). {tried the biodiesel thing}

I figure that's where we are headed.

[Hillhater]

Making hydrocarbon fuels dense enough to waste 70% of it in an engine is an impossibility..

I dont know what exactly you were trying to say, but.. that statement is 100% rubbish !

[theRealFury]

The problem that most people get hung up on (and i just want to beat most of them round the face with a wet salmon!!!) is that same old cherry! "My car goes 600miles on a tank of fuel, until electric can match this im sticking with the planet killer" Well, for the 1-2% of the world population that that regularly travels 100+ miles per day then that will definately be the case and i can understand that thinking, but for the 98-99% that averages far less than that, some even as little as 10 miles per day average (12,000miles per year is 32 miles a day on average and only 20% of drivers do this distance) its time to pull your heads outta the ICE's ass and smell the fresh air.

that Tiny car with is 60-80 miles of real range and 2 seats would fully cover 60% of the populations travel needs apart from the one off long distance trips such as going on a driving holiday. for these one off trips it would be more cost effective to rent a car than to own an ICE for the rest of the year holding onto that 4-600miles range for your one off trip where you need it.

There are noly 2 things that need to change before electric cars will be a nobrainer for those 60% of the population, and that is battery prices and mass production of EV's.

the more people that make the leap now while its somewhat of a status quo, the quicker the above 2 changes will come about and the quicker we can all benefit from cheaper personal transportation and a healthier environment.

[REdiculous]

The "you can rent a car" argument makes no sense because, in theory, you have a fairly new car.

[scotticeberg]

I wonder what it would be like to not feel ill from walking near heavily trafficked roads. ICE has caused innumerable deaths, and unquantifiable misery. Exhaust pipes should be routed into the vehicle cabin.

[Hillhater]

I wonder what it would be like to not feel ill from walking near heavily trafficked roads. ICE has caused innumerable deaths, and unquantifiable misery. Exhaust pipes should be routed into the vehicle cabin.

If not for road transport, you probably would not have food to eat !..let alone the standard of living or the comforts that you take for granted.

[bobc]

Big deal ;^)
Our greenpower race car, made by 15 yr old schoolgirls (+ me & a teacher) travelled 108 miles in 4 hrs on 6 35Ah 12V lead acid batteries. That is the energy
equivalent of 0.6litres of petrol or 3100mpg. Thats at nearly 30mph. The formula rules prevent us being properly efficient or aerodynamic
(admittedly UK mpg figures are a bit more impressive than US ones because of the bigger gallon....)
Gordon Murray - - - amateur!
& yeah we came 5th, - another school went 120 miles...

[theRealFury]

)

Big deal ;^)
Our greenpower race car, made by 15 yr old schoolgirls (+ me & a teacher) travelled 108 miles in 4 hrs on 6 35Ah 12V lead acid batteries. That is the energy
equivalent of 0.6litres of petrol or 3100mpg. Thats at nearly 30mph. The formula rules prevent us being properly efficient or aerodynamic
(admittedly UK mpg figures are a bit more impressive than US ones because of the bigger gallon....)
Gordon Murray - - - amateur!
& yeah we came 5th, - another school went 120 miles...

That is very impressive, 2.5kw/h of battery to go 108 miles, that 23.3wh/mile... that is 50% better than my ebike which cruises at 30mph consuming ~36-40wh,mile, and to top it all off its built by 15 year old school girls... any more info or pics of that (the car not necessarily the school girls )

[bobc]

Fury,
have a look on
http://www.cauc-f24.org/ - our team's website and
http://www.greenpower.co.uk/ - the organisation
It's all good fun, you should come & have a look when we race at Croft in the summer.
Skipton girls grammar have a team too, they near you? and St. James in Knaresborough

we have to use a 67% efficient brushed motor, 4 wheels and have an open cockpit (what I meant about not being allowed to be properly efficient) - and good old lead acids ;^)

[pyrogaz]

In reality Greenpower racers don't use anywhere near the 2.5kwh stored in batteries, Mr Peukert sticks his oar in and limits us to something closer to 1.5kwh. In fact, due to a very inexperienced team, we only used 1.35kwh in this years final and were 4.8 miles behind Bobc's car in 7th.

[theRealFury]

Excellent, thanks for the links, im still reading them now. I had no idea this was happening. Nice to see school children being enducated in EV's and especially efficiency, these children are the car designers of tomorrow and the more of this type of thing they do the better the cars are likely to be in 10-20 years time. Brings a smile to my face

Makes me drool at the thought of how far you could go with a 97% efficient motor (such as KERS system in F1) and 2.5kwh of lithium batteries .

[adhd]

I get so tired of the same old complaint that it only seats 2 people. While I admit to carrying a passenger on occasion, most of my driving is short jaunts alone-and then only when I can't carry in the basket on my bike the subject of my trip. My wife drives most places alone, too. Untrainable. 4,000 pounds to carry 200. Ahh, the American way.

[EBJ]

Clearly, battery tech has a ways to go before its going to be the obvious choice.
I appreciate the fact that my car goes over 400 miles before the fuel light comes on, which happens to be nearly a month for me. With a '100 mile' range EV, i'd probably need to charge it every other day.

... I guess that makes sense. I'd drive my car 4x more often if I didn't have to worry about burning fuel.