Increasing Energy Efficiency and Improving Dynamic Properties through Improved Vehicle Design Methods

The need to save energy and, in particular, oil and gas fuels is currently an acute global problem. Automobile transport is the most massive consumer of gas, gasoline, and diesel fuel, which has led to the need to reduce their consumption in some European countries by limiting the maximum speeds for cars. Reducing the maximum speed of vehicles reduces energy and fuel consumption. Energy and fuel consumption are proportional to the cube of the speed of the car. Reducing fuel consumption when driving on expressways can be carried out without reducing the maximum design speed of the car due to the rational design of the transmission and the choice of engine power. This article presents the results of the authors’ research implemented in new methods for designing car transmissions. These methods are based on a more accurate determination of the aerodynamic characteristics of vehicles, taking into account the change in the drag coefficient depending on the speed. For example, for the ZAZ-1103 “Slavuta” car, the actual air resistance at the speed of 145 km/h is six times less than the calculated one obtained by the traditional method. The obtained results allow to improve the quality of the design process and increase the energy efficiency of cars.