Thread: Poolt Sailing

Mererand autod võiksid mööduda hübriidide sõidus ultimate economyA paar nädalat tagasi, ma katsetada Mercedes E300 hübriid tee Brighton Londonisse enamik RAC tulevik auto väljakutse. Selleks ajaks, kui jõudsin Exhibition Road Londoni kesklinnas, reis arvuti ütles, et mul oli keskmiselt 65. 7 mpg. mida teha autod brošüür lubaduse 109g/km. hädas on, sõidu tehnikat vaja ekstrakti, et selline kütusesäästu läbisid äärmuslik.
Liinil kuni: Crawley nõutav kütuse säästmise turuletulijatel skaala järskude bitine North Downs ja samuti osa kiirevoolulistes M25 ja pikk hõivatud linna teede Putney Hill Kensington.
Tee need osad töötas erinevate elektri- ja hübriidautosid sõidukite sest ronimist, kiirendades ja tihe liiklus mööda manöövervedurid on ebaefektiivne enamik energiat. Selleks ajaks olid lagedaks North Downs oli reis arvuti tõepoolest, märkides vaid 48mpg.
ID oli võimalus praktiseerida ka E300 mu tavaline sõitmisest kestab paar päeva ja avastasin, et parim viis sõidustiili majanduse oli lihtsalt mererand allamäge võimaluse. Selle E300 on võimeline kinni keerata oma mootori ja minema mida sakslased kutsuvad purjetamise režiimis. Kas see on tõsi, purjetamine mode (kus edastamist ka läheb neutraalne, jättes auto vabalt rullida) saada teada ei saanud, kuid see on hämmastavalt tõhus.
Kui ma valtsitud peale M25, oli selge, piisa mulle pääse 60mph cruise ja siis ta muutus pikk, õrn allamäge. Nii dramaatiline on vabakäigul, et alla 15 minuti M25, pärast ma lahkus 55mpg keskmise näidikule energiahulgaga.
A3s 50mph kiirusepiirang oli ideaalne vähe kütust kasutamiseks ja ma veelgi petetuna slipstreaming solo Vauxhall Ampera. Selleks ajaks, kui ma lahkutakse Putney, arvuti lugeda 67mpg ja ma olin üllatunud ma rongideks kuue linna miili Kensington aega vaid paar mpg langeda. Kuid kõik Mercedes keerukate Hybrid vedav poolest kütuse kokkuhoid, midagi kleebitavat sulgeda vabakäigul igal võimalusel.
Suvel sõitsin prototüüp Audi A6 intelligentne purjekal. Seda kasutada 3D sat nav süsteemi (nii et ta teadis, millal allamäge venib road olid läheneb) ja koos manustatud teavet omal drag ja veeretakistus. See võimaldas A6, kuna see võiks kinni keerata oma mootori ja lihtsalt rannikul kineetilise energia arvutamiseks. Sõita ettevaatlikult, see oli üllatav kui tihti A6's mootori langeks vaikne.
Minu kogemus prototüüp A6 ja Mercedes toodang on teinud mind üha enam kindel, et tulevikus seisneb mitte keeruline elektri ja bensiini drivetrains, kuid downsized tavaline mootorid (mõnikord ka nagu et A6, koos väike, elektriliselt juhitud, turbolaadurid), ühendatud purjetamine mode edastamise tõeline.
Muidugi, entusiastlik juhile sellest lähtuvalt on sünge tulevik. Autod piisavalt autonoomiat ja luureandmeid, et otsustada, millal tappa mootori ja rannikul ultimate majanduse tegutsemiseks soovitab juht on ainult mööda sõitma.
Kuid samas õhuke lihtsus ja odavus aktiivse purjetamise veenab mind, see on no-brainer, hästi on lootust, et autotootjad kaasata välja-lüliti.

Cars that coast could overtake hybrids in the race for ultimate economyA couple of weeks ago, I piloted the Mercedes E300 Hybrid most of the way from Brighton to London in the RAC Future Car Challenge. By the time I reached Exhibition Road in central London, the trip computer said that I had averaged 65. 7mpg. Which is right on the cars brochure promise of 109g/km. Trouble is, the driving technique needed to extract that kind of fuel economy verged on the extreme.
The route up from Crawley required the fuel-saving entrants to scale a steep bit of the North Downs and as well a section of the fast-flowing M25 and a long stretch of busy urban roads from Putney Hill to Kensington.
All these parts of the route worked against the various electric and hybrid vehicles because climbing, accelerating and shunting along in heavy traffic are the most energy inefficient. Indeed, by the time I had cleared the North Downs the trip computer was indicating just 48mpg.
Id had the opportunity to practise with the E300 for a few days on my normal commuting run and discovered that the best way of driving up the economy was just to coast downhill wherever possible. The E300 has the ability to shut off its engine and go into what the Germans call sailing mode. Whether this is true sailing mode (where the transmission also goes into neutral, leaving the car to roll freely) I couldnt find out, but it is amazingly effective.
When I rolled onto the M25, it was clear enough for me to get away with a 60mph cruise and then it turned into a long, gentle, downhill. So dramatic is the energy saved by coasting that, after less than 15 mins on the M25, I exited with a 55mpg average on the dial.
The A3s 50mph speed limit was ideal for minimal fuel use and I further cheated by slipstreaming a solo Vauxhall Ampera. By the time I exited for Putney, the computer read 67mpg and I was surprised to drop just a couple of mpg by the time I shunted six urban miles to Kensington. But for all Mercedes complex Hybrid drivetrain, in terms of fuel saving, nothing cames close to coasting at every opportunity.
In the summer I drove a prototype Audi A6 with intelligent sailing. It used a 3D sat-nav system (so it knew when downhill stretches of road were approaching) and combined it with embedded information about its own drag and rolling resistance. This allowed the A6 to calculate when it could shut off its engine and just coast along on kinetic energy. Driven gently, it was surprising just how often the A6's engine would fall silent.
My experience of the prototype A6 and the production Mercedes has made me increasingly sure that the future lies not in complex petrol-electric drivetrains, but downsized normal engines (possibly, like the A6, combined with tiny, electrically-driven, turbochargers), coupled to a true sailing mode transmission.
Of course, for the enthusiastic driver, this points to a bleak future. Cars with enough autonomy and intelligence to decide when to kill the engine and coast, in the pursuit of ultimate economy, suggests the driver will only be along for the ride.
But while the sheer simplicity and cheapness of active sailing convinces me it's a no-brainer, well have to hope that carmakers include an off-switch.