Tag Archives: vehicles

News

Car sales in the EU drop by 5.2%

The price of new cars is on the rise and so is the demand. Customers are looking for compact and fuel-efficient cars, especially hybrids. However, last month car sales in the EU dropped by 5.2 percent compared to the same period in 2023.

According to ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association), last month’s sales led to a change in the market structure, so electric cars now have a 13% market share (-0.9%), while hybrid cars recorded a growth of 4.6% (29 %). Gasoline and diesel cars still have a high market share of 47.8 percent, although they recorded a decline of 4%.

In March, 134,397 electric cars were sold on the EU market, which is 11.3 percent less than in 2023. The German market recorded the biggest drop of 28.9 percent, while demand for BEVs in Belgium and France increased (+23.8% / 10.9%).

When it comes to hybrids, France and Italy are one of the biggest markets for these cars, where demand grew by 29.6% (France) and 8.3% (Italy). This segment achieved sales of 299,426 units (29 percent of the market). Demand for plug-in hybrids dropped by 6.5% in March, with 73,029 PHEV vehicles sold. It should be noted that Belgium (-15.3%) and Germany (-4.5%) had the worst results. France is one of the few countries that managed to achieve sales growth (3.6%).

Diesel and gasoline cars had the worst results. Sales of gasoline cars fell by 10.2%, the most in France (-17.7%), Spain (-10.1%) and Germany (-3.4%), while Italy was the only one to record growth (5.7%). Also, diesel cars had a drop in demand of 18.5%, mostly in France (-32.1%), Spain (-38%) and Italy (-27.6%), while in Germany demand fell by 0.5%.

Source: ACEA

EV

2025 Audi Q6L e-tron

The Chinese market is important for all car manufacturers, including Audi, which will, at Auto China: April 25 to May 4, 2024, present fully electric cars intended primarily for the demands of Chinese customers. Among them will be the Audi Q5 e-tron RS and Q6L e-tron, as well as the Audi SQ6, which will make its debut on the Chinese market.

“The Chinese market is central to the transformation of the Audi brand into a leading global provider of premium electric mobility. With the opening of the new factory in Changchun, locally developed electric models, and state-of-the-art digital technology tailored to users’ requirements, we are putting our plan for continued success into action,” said Audi CEO Gernot Döllner.

With the Q6L e-tron, Audi announces the arrival of a new PPE platform in China, on which Audi will produce its three versions of the Audi Q6 e-tron and Audi A6 e-tron until the end of 2024. The cars will be produced at the Audi FAW NEV in Changchun, which is the first Audi plant to do just that. Pre-series production at the new plant has already begun.

Source: Audi

News

This diesel engine has a thermal efficiency of more than 53 percent

In 1897, the first diesel engine was built with an effective efficiency of 26.2%. Since then, scientists have been trying to increase its efficiency, which until recently was between 30 and 50%. However, the Chinese company Weichai Power presented at the World Congress on Internal Combustion Engines the first ever diesel engine with an intrinsic thermal efficiency of more than 53 percent.

Engine thermal efficiency is the percentage of diesel combustion energy transferred into usable engine work without the need for a waste heat recovery mechanism. In 2020, the Chinese company presented its diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 50.23 percent, and two years later the efficiency increased to 52.28 percent.

In 500 days of work, the research team achieved the optimization of four vital systems: fuel supply, air intake, combustion and friction reduction. This resulted in a higher thermal efficiency of the engine, but also a higher economy of the engine, which in this case is nearly 14%. The team has effectively advanced high expansion combustion, pressurized mixed flow, highly efficient fuel injection and low drag friction reduction technology.

How significant this achievement is is shown by the fact that it would lead to annual fuel savings of around 30 million tons and a reduction in carbon emissions by almost 100 million tons. If we consider individual vehicles, a heavy tractor with an annual mileage of 250,000 km can save about 12,000 gallons/45,425 liters of fuel thanks to this technology. That would mean an additional nearly $13,500 for the owner, based on current fuel prices.

It should be noted that during the research and development phase, the team received 176 patents for inventions and 68 patents for utility models.

Source: Reuters