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Finding a formula to save fuel
The number of cars on the road is soaring, adding to congestion and pollution increase. After getting stuck in a London traffic jam, one Formula One™ car designer turned away from the racetrack to make an ultra fuel-efficient city car – helped by a Shell lubricant.
Car ownership worldwide is expected to triple to around 2 billion by 2050. How to keep city traffic rolling while managing vehicle emissions is a growing challenge. As the former technical director for the McLaren Formula One™ racing team, Gordon Murray designed some of the world’s fastest cars. In recent years, he has focused some of the efforts of his UK-based car design company on demonstrating ways to overcome modern mobility challenges.
“I was stuck in London traffic on my way to work in 1993, surrounded by large cars each with just one occupant,” says Gordon. “That was the light-bulb moment when I really started thinking about sustainable car design.”
Gordon Murray’s futuristic city car, the T.25, is compact and extremely fuel efficient: it has achieved up to 100 kilometres on 2.9 litres of petrol (96 miles per gallon). Thanks to a specially designed lubricant from Shell, its fuel economy – in a test designed to mimic typical city driving – was improved by 6.5 % compared to a conventional lubricant. Lower fuel consumption also translates into lower CO2 emissions.
Lubricants are designed to keep engines running smoothly. They reduce energy losses through friction and protect the engine. A lubricant must be thick enough to keep engine parts separated – but the thinner it is the less fuel is used. “For the engine a thin lubricant is like swimming through water, not molasses,” says Simon Dunning, Shell Global Technology Manager Passenger Car Motor Oils.
Recent changes in legislation and new emission standards around the world are increasing the pressure on vehicle manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. Although the lubricant-related gain in the T.25 sounds modest, carmakers often struggle to make even smaller improvements.
“A lubricant should be seen as an engine component,” says Simon. “Usually manufacturers approach us after the car design phase – when it is too late to improve fuel efficiency by much.”
With Gordon Murray, Shell’s involvement came earlier in the process. The brief was to demonstrate ultra-high fuel economy for an urban prototype, rather than design an all-purpose lubricant like those typically used in cars today. Shell developed a lubricant specifically for the T.25 which will not be available on the general market.
“We didn’t have to consider the extreme conditions a car may face, such as towing a car up a mountain in hot weather,” adds Simon. “This gave us more freedom from the standards that restrict most lubricant development.”
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