Top 10 Tech Cars - Green Machines
|
|
| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Computer Engineering Design Electrical Engineering Engineering Management Engineering Mechanics Environmental Engineering General Engineering, Engineering Science Mechanical Engineering |
| Special Topic(s): | |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Reference - Article/Document |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
John Voelcker |
| Description: | Article published in IEEE Spectrum, April 2008. Excerpt: "It's the Environment, stupid. When a sexy silver Ferrari F430 Spider has “Bio Fuel” emblazoned on the doors in bright green, you know the world has changed. Yet that was the sight at a major auto show early this year. As one industry commentator put it, “Green is the new black.” Consider that Europe is debating not whether to cut carbon emissions from vehicles but simply when to do it and by how much. The average new car on Europe's roads now emits roughly 160 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer; the European Commission proposed last year to lower that to 130 g/km by 2012. But Europe's carmakers seem likely to have missed a voluntary 2008 target of 140 g/km. This issue has pitted French and Italian carmakers—who specialize in small, fuel-efficient cars—against German manufacturers, who could see many of their luxury and sports-car products become problematic. Now a staggered set of weight-based limits may be instituted, and the deadline may be pushed all the way to 2015. Carbon emissions are becoming a standard automotive benchmark in Europe and parts of Asia, but North American car buyers remain almost entirely unaware of them. To reflect the global discussion, IEEE Spectrum has included whatever numbers on vehicle CO2 emissions we could obtain from the manufacturers. Many of this year's innovations center on combustion-engine technology—Ford's EcoBoost turbocharged gasoline direct-injection engines, Mazda's tiny Miller-cycle engine, BMW's centrally mounted twin turbochargers. Then there's the diesel engine, which appears set for a revival following the fuel-economy regulations enacted late last year in the United States. Both European and Japanese carmakers are preparing to launch diesels in North America over the next two to five years. Even though the engine requires elaborate and costly emissions controls—like the Mercedes-Benz Bluetec system—to trap the great number of fine particulates diesels emit, their lower fuel usage and CO2 emissions are unquestioned. Will U.S. buyers go for diesels? No one knows. It may be the industry's biggest open question." Image caption: The 2009 Tata Nano will sell for 100 000 rupees, about US $2500. Its 623-cubic-centimeter two-cylinder engine produces only 24 kilowatts (32 horsepower), roughly the same as a midrange motorcycle in the United States. |
| Rating: |
|
| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | green design sustainable design sustainable engineering geen cars automobile design |
| Usage Tip | |
| Related ABET Criteria: |
(c) Design a system, component, or process (h) Understand global, economic, environmental, and societal context |
| Use of Resource: |
Article show photos of the top 10 "green machine" automobiles. |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Interactivity Level: |
Low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | September 2008 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/apr08/6078 |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
|
