Why wont the u.s. auto makers build a car that burns all its fuel, not just 29% OF IT?

Answer 1

Much more than 29% of the fuel is burned (one could say it is almost all burned). In most gasoline engines, exhaust gas recirculation is used to help ensure that any unburned fuel is burned.

But it's not a conspiracy on the automaker's part to make an engine that isn't 100% efficient-- it's just not possible.

The automakers cannot possibly receive enough incentives from the oil companies to prevent them from making engines with even 20% more efficiency.

Answer 2

All gas engines, foreign and domestic burn almost exactly the same fuel to air ratio. The ratio is varied due to changes in altitude and temperature, usually controlled by a computer now. All of the fuel in my truck gets burned, at least I can't find where it is hiding. With all the air pollution controls I know it isn't dripping on the ground or venting raw gas into the atmosphere so you must mean mileage differences. My 1 ton dually pickup burns more fuel than my Eagle 4x4, Lincoln towncar, Chevy van conversion or my 56 Ford pickup. They all get different mileage based on weight, wind resistance, horsepower and variable attitude of the driver. Maybe it's the weight of my Nikes, no that couldn't be, they are made in China. I'd be interested in knowing where the 29% figure came from. Happy trails!

Answer 3

I concur with Alan S and Sevateem. An automobile engine typically DOES burn all its fuel, or <97% of it, in the cylinders.

I believe you might be thinking of the fact that internal combustion engines are only about 25-30% EFFICIENT. This is because of the nature of thermodynamics, expressed as a ratio of the energy you get out of a machine to the energy you put into a machine. In this case, the efficiency means that roughly 25-30% of the chemical energy contained in the fuel molecules is converted to mechanical energy transferred to the wheels.

To answer (I think) your question, the technology is not available at this point to make engines that are much more efficient, and it may never be.

Answer 4

If you are alluding to the fact that cars utilize only a small portion of the fuel's energy, it doesn't mean it's not burning it all. I don't know if your 29% figure is correct or not but I'll pretend it is. in that case it means that 29% of 100,000+/- BTUs per gallon gets converted in mechanical energy while the remaining 71% is dumped into th atmosphere as heat via the tailpipe and radiator.

Answer 5

Because they have no incentive to do that, but lots of opposition-from the big oil lobby, etc. Sad, but simple.

Answer 6

Exxon wouldn't like that.

Answer 7

$$$$$

Answer 8

we leave that to the japanese.