In 2009, the USA’s limit values specified for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were already made more stringent. Since then, additional regulations on fuel consumption (corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards) and the reduction of CO2 emissions (greenhouse gas standards) have also been developed and ratified. The CAFE standards apply to vehicles from model year 2011 onwards and the greenhouse gas standards from model year 2012 onwards, and vehicle fleets in the USA are separated into passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Up to model year 2016, average values of 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer (225 grams per mile) and 188 grams of CO2 per kilometer (302 grams per mile) have been specified for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, respectively. From model year 2016 onwards, manufacturers have to achieve an average fuel consumption of 6.6 liters per 100 kilometers (35.5 miles per gallon) and a CO2 emission value of 155 grams per kilometer (250 grams per mile) for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles combined. Categorization for these target values takes place using a so-called footprint, which is calculated by multiplying the length of the wheelbase by the track width. The CAFE limit values become more and more stringent every year and demand the highest annual reduction in fuel consumption of any region in the world (five percent each year). A global comparison shows the average adjustment value worldwide to be around four percent. The absolute value within the European Union is 130 grams by 2015, with a further reduction in CO2 emissions to 95 grams (the lowest value worldwide) stipulated by 2020. All the same, vehicle fleets in Europe are compared in terms of vehicle weight as opposed to vehicle footprint.
This means that automobile manufacturers around the world are facing major challenges. Until now, competition in North America has mostly been defined by the performance, size and comfort that vehicles have to offer – an environment in which energy-efficient technological innovations were only a minor point of orientation. However, rising fuel costs, emissions regulations, and the CAFE standards are changing the situation in North America, and with it the focus for automobile manufacturers who, even in North America, are relying on innovative and efficient technologies.
Schaeffler, the globally oriented automotive and industrial supplier, is displaying a groundbreaking solution for the American automobile market with its Efficient Future Mobility North America concept vehicle at the 2014 NAIAS (North American International Auto Show). By carrying out extensive detailed work on various subsystems in the vehicle, experts at Schaeffler’s three North American research and development centers in Fort Mill, S.C. Troy, Mich. and Wooster, Ohio, were able to optimize the mid-size SUV in such a way that it now boasts 15 percent less fuel consumption and, even today, already achieves the values specified for this vehicle size by the CAFE standard for the year 2020 in a cost-effective way.
“Progress is never-ending. And that means the vehicle platform we have chosen still has further potential for optimization, despite already being efficient to begin with. The solutions that we have integrated take the market-specific requirements and customer demands in North America into account,” explains Philip George, director of Advanced Development at Schaeffler North America.
