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FuelEfficiency


Greenlings: Why does mileage drop in winter?

This week's Greenlings topic came to us from another reader tip. Don asked why his fuel economy suffers so much in winter weather. In his own experience, mileage drops about 10 percent when the temperatures go from the 60-70 F range to near freezing. This is consistent with our own experience and in fact we've seen even bigger drops than that when testing hybrid vehicles in winter conditions. There are a number of reasons why winter driving reduces efficiency ranging from fuels to driver safety and comfort. If you happen to live ... Read more →

Ford Focus RS tops 32 mpg (US) in UK MPG marathon Sam Abuelsamid

It's no secret that the biggest variable that affects fuel consumption of a car is not the powertrain, or the drag or rolling resistance. It's that bit between the seat and the steering wheel and ...

Average new car mpg levels hit record high in August, spurred by Cash for Clunkers Jeremy Korzeniewski

The success or failure of the Cash for Clunkers program that recently came to an end here in the United States has been and will continue to be debatable, but at least some good was accomplished ...

Saturn Vue 2-mode hybrid rated at 27/30 mpg by EPA, will never be built Sam Abuelsamid

One of our readers was was perusing the EPA's fuel economy listings and stumbled across a vehicle that we didn't even know had been rated. The two-mode hybrid version of the Saturn Vue had been ...

Helen and John Taylor reset fuel mileage world record at 67.9 mpg Jeremy Korzeniewski

Helen and John Taylor have done it again. The husband and wife team of hyper-milers fuel stretchers have just broken their own "48 Contiguous U.S. States Fuel Economy Guinness World Record" with ...

Acura won't get into horsepower war, will focus on efficiency 3 months ago on Autoblog Green

In typical Honda fashion, its premium Acura division will take a different path and has decided not to get sucked into a power race with its rivals. We already knew Acura had shelved plans for a larger V8 engine and a rear wheel drive platform. Product planning manager John Watts told Automotive ...

Where are the most important MPG increases, at the upper or lower end? 4 months ago on Autoblog Green

Imagine, if you will, taking a sheet of paper and cutting it in half. Now take one of those halves and cut it in half again. Now keep repeating the process. As you keep cutting, the difference in the size of the subsequent pieces gets progressively smaller. This simple example is a demonstration ...

Bosch looks for more business as Chrysler starts to build Fiats 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

Bosch has long been a major supplier of many different automotive components to Fiat, and the company is hoping to leverage that association with the new Chrysler. Bosch provides a higher proportion of the parts and systems that go into the Italian cars than they ever have had at Chrysler. However, ...

STUDY: The way to profits in Detroit? Make fuel efficient cars 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

According to a new study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, the Detroit three automakers need to make major changes in their current corporate cultures if they truly want to reverse their fortunes, and that will likely require new leadership. Says Walter McManus, ...

EPA rates new CVT-equipped Subaru Legacy at 23 mpg city, 31 mpg highway 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

The EPA has finished its work on the new 2010 Subaru Legacy and, in spite of growing in size, the mid-sized sedan now sports better fuel economy numbers. In its efforts to capture a unique niche of the car market, Subaru still makes all-wheel-drive standard on all its U.S.-market cars. ...

California looking to classify tires by rolling resistance? 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

Low rolling resistance tires have been increasingly used to help manufacturers improve EPA efficiency ratings. While the specialty rubber used to be found mostly on hybrids, it is starting to find its way onto other vehicles as well, like gas-engined Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs. According ...

Noise cancelling speakers help 2010 Chevy Equinox get +1 mpg 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

The new 2010 Chevy Equinox that was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show has an interesting new bit of technology that aids fuel efficiency even though most people wouldn't think of it that way. When the engineers were working on the calibrations for the new 2.4-liter direct injected four cylinder ...

AMG puts up the white flag in the Autobahn power war 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

Over the past two decades, the big German automakers have been continuously cranking up the power levels of their high performance cars to absolutely insane levels. It's gotten to the point where you must have a minimum of 500 hp or more just to get into the game; many cars approach 600hp. ...

2010 Ford Fusion 4 cylinder gets official EPA numbers, 23/34 mpg! 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

Ford's revamped 2010 Fusion sedan continues to run up the big numbers when it comes to the EPA mileage ratings. The feds have just finished calculating the ratings for the four-cylinder model and, just as with the hybrid version, the numbers are best in class. The combination of the new 2.5L ...

Surprise! Bush administration passes on setting CAFE standards 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

With a brief, three-sentence statement, the Bush Administration has done what we've been expecting for quite some time: pawn off future CAFE decisions to the next administration. So, Obama and his future team will now be in charge of deciding exactly how to proceed with tough new regulations that ...

Audi puts 2.0L TDI in high efficiency version of the 44.4 mpg large A6 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

Audi is now offering a TDI e version of its large A6 sedan with the same 2.0L diesel engine that is being installed in the Jetta TDI here in the US market. In the A6, the engine is rated at 134 hp, slightly less than 140 hp available in the Jetta. The high efficiency e-badged variant of the A6 gets ...

Fuel stretching Taylors get world record 58.82 mpg around the U.S. 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

After twenty days on the road John and Helen Taylor have completed their journey around America and earned a new entry in the Guinness book of world records. After 9,419 miles through 48 states, the Taylors consumed just over 11 tanks of ultra low sulfur diesel. That works out to 58.82 mpg and 853 ...

Ford's future engine lineup to focus on fuel economy 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Over the next decade, Ford will be putting the focus (no pun intended) on fuel efficiency for all of its powertrains as fuel prices continue to climb. The EcoBoost engines that debut next spring with a 3.5L V6 are expected to become the workhorses of the fleet, but virtually all of Ford's engines ...

DOE Expands International Effort to Develop Fuel-Efficient Trucks 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

One of the big contributors to rising food prices over the past year has been the cost of getting food from the field to the grocer. Truck drivers across Europe and especially in the UK have been protesting increasing fuel costs for months. The U.S. Department of Energy is partnering with the ...

Meeting new CAFE regs will cost Detroit double what it costs the Japanese 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The average cost for Detroit's Big Three automakers to meet the proposed fuel efficiency targets of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015 has been pegged at $30.6 billion. In contrast, the average cost for the Japanese automakers sits at less than half that amount at "only" $14.85 billion. These numbers ...

Hyundai to get half of MPG improvement from powertrains 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Hyundai is already far closer to meeting the new corporate average fuel economy standards than most automakers thanks to their current fleet averages of 32.4mpg for cars and 25.5 for trucks. Under the new footprint-based formula that sets individual standards for manufacturers based on the size of ...

Cheap gas in China prompts buyers to go bigger, while Gov't wants smaller 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Apparently, China hasn't learned from the policies of the United States when it comes to petroleum prices. For decades, the price of gasoline has not reflected its true cost because prices have not factored in the cost of military expenditures required to maintain "friendly" governments in ...

Does the Heritage Foundation misstate results of a CAFE-safety study? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The video above, "The Energy Debate: Just the Facts," is from the Heritage Foundation and includes the results of a study on CAFE and safety that I think may have been misstated. The video starts out by asking the loaded question "why will raising CAFE standards hurt Americans?" to which Ben ...

Correcting Toyota's mistake in correcting Boston Globe's mistake on Sequoia's MPG rating 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

We all make mistakes, but if I told you an article written by a Boston Globe editor (and then a correction by Toyota's Communications Vice President to that article) on something as simple as a car's MPG rating did not tell the whole truth, you might be surprised. That is the case and lets start ...

Study: non-flex fuel cars get better fuel economy on ethanol 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

There are many people that say you can get better mileage with ethanol and you can even use blends higher than E10 in non flex-fuel cars. While controversial and only proven in tests done by mechanics or culled from impressions from truckers, there are finally some government and university studies ...

President Bush answers questions on ethanol, fuel efficiency and gas tax 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Bush rarely takes questions and even when he does, it's never about green transportation. Unbelievably, on Monday, Bush was asked about the impact of fuel efficiency on the gas tax and the impact of ethanol on feed costs. Bush admits we have to move away from the gas tax because of higher fuel ...

Bush tells Congress how to write an energy bill 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Bush sent a letter telling Congress what changes they can make to the energy bill so he does not veto it. Allan Hubbard wrote the letter that the White House sent to Congressional leaders (Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner) with a list of "deal-makers and deal-breakers." The ...

Video: Quiet, Obama's new TV ad has "Detroit" fuel efficiency joke 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

I am starting to feel sorry for Detroit. Leading Presidential candidate Barack Obama's new TV ad, titled "Quiet," tells a joke about going to Detroit and calling for a higher fuel efficiency standard. You can watch the video for yourself below the fold. Speaking to an audience, Barack explains he ...

America's other obesity problem 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

The fact that Americans are getting heavier is not breaking news. Nor is the fact that the same thing is happening to our cars. However, amidst the global, peak-oil climate it's a matter that Kevin Reale, an automotive analyst at AMR Research, believes is worth bringing to the forefront of ...

For Suzuki, small size and fuel efficiency play role in expansion 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

As posted by sibling Autoblog, Suzuki plans to expand its operations world-wide to meet the demand for its smaller vehicles, the bulk being the fuel-efficient Swift compact (pictured) and SX4 Grand Vitara. The automaker, the fourth largest in Japan (after Toyota, Nissan, and Honda) will be ...

Cities with best, worse fuel-efficient vehicles 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

If you're planning to move sometime in the future and want to know which cities will accept your Toyota Prius/HUMMER H2, MapInfo Corporation may have just the information for you. The "location intelligence" provider, working with data provided by various sources including R. L. Polk & Co., ...

Loremo: 157 mpg! 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

A German company, Loremo, is developing a concept vehicle that promises to deliver 157 mpg (1.5l/100km), by using a very small, two cylinder diesel engine, in combination with a light-weight steel structure and a low drag coefficient. The total weight of the car is 450kg (992 lbs), and has a number ...


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