A Car for the Nineties: BL's Energy Conservation Vehicle

Abstract

Several crises in the Middle East have resulted in the disappearance of cheap fuel oil. Further crises are possible and although considerable reserves exist, with the exception of the Middle East, production is bound to become more and more expensive. BL's answer is the conservation vehicle. Development ran through two preliminary phases, ECVI and ECV2, which were based on a small car prototype. The third phase ECV3, though profiting from the earlier vehicles, bears little resemblance to them; it is bigger, it shares few common parts and to a large extent is made from different materials. The objectives for the ECV are 0–60 mile/h acceleration in 12 s or less with an average fuel consumption of better than 50 mile/gal. It must be in no way inferior to existing medium sized family cars in performance, ride, handling, interior noise, vibration, safety and accommodation. It is designed for minimum whole life cost. This lecture describes the efforts made to meet these objectives.