Systems Analytics and Environmental Sciences Department, Ford Motor Company, Mail Drop RIC-2122, Dearborn, Michigan 48121-2053, United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2013 Dec 17;47(24):14358-66. doi: 10.1021/es402954w. Epub 2013 Nov 23.
Lightweighting is a key strategy used to improve vehicle fuel economy. Replacing conventional materials (e.g., steel) with lighter alternatives (e.g., aluminum, magnesium, and composites) decreases energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during vehicle use, but often increases energy consumption and GHG emissions during materials and vehicle production. Assessing the life-cycle benefits of mass reduction requires a quantitative description of the mass-induced fuel consumption during vehicle use. A new physics-based method for estimating mass-induced fuel consumption (MIF) is proposed. We illustrate the utility of this method by using publicly available data to calculate MIF values in the range of 0.2-0.5 L/(100 km 100 kg) based on 106 records of fuel economy tests by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 2013 model year vehicles. Lightweighting is shown to have the most benefit when applied to vehicles with high fuel consumption and high power. Use of the physics-based model presented here would place future life cycle assessment studies of vehicle lightweighting on a firmer scientific foundation.
轻量化是提高车辆燃油经济性的关键策略。用更轻的替代品（如铝、镁和复合材料）替代传统材料（如钢），可以降低车辆使用过程中的能源消耗和温室气体（GHG）排放，但通常会增加材料和车辆生产过程中的能源消耗和 GHG 排放。评估减重的生命周期效益需要对车辆使用过程中的质量引起的燃料消耗进行定量描述。提出了一种新的基于物理的方法来估算质量引起的燃料消耗（MIF）。我们通过使用公开可用的数据来说明该方法的实用性，根据美国环境保护署 2013 年车型的 106 份燃油经济性测试记录，计算出 0.2-0.5 L/（100 km 100 kg）范围内的 MIF 值。结果表明，当应用于高油耗和高功率的车辆时，轻量化的效果最佳。使用这里提出的基于物理的模型将使未来的车辆轻量化生命周期评估研究建立在更坚实的科学基础上。
