The motion of all vehicles requires the expenditure of a certain quantity of mechanical energy, and in motor vehicles the system that supplies such energy (in most cases an internal combustion engine) is on board. The lack of an adequate prime mover is the main reason that mechanical vehicles could be built only at the end of the industrial revolution, and enter mass production only in the Twentieth Century, in spite of attempts dating back to ancient times.

    For a mechanical vehicle to be built, a prime mover able to move not only itself, but the vehicle structure and payload as well, was needed. Remembering that the power needed to move the mass m at the speed V on a level surface with coefficient of friction (sliding or rolling) f is equal to P = mgfV , it is easy to conclude that the minimum value of the power/mass ratio of a prime mover able to move itself is where α is the ratio between the mass of the engine and the total mass of the vehicle and η is the total efficiency of the mechanism which transfers the power and propels the vehicle.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Prime Movers For Motor Vehicles


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    The Automotive Chassis ; Chapter : 6 ; 165-184


    Publication date :

    2009-01-01


    Size :

    20 pages





    Type of media :

    Article/Chapter (Book)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    Prime Movers for Motor Vehicles

    Genta, Giancarlo / Morello, Lorenzo | Springer Verlag | 2019


    Prime movers for series hybrid vehicles

    Moeller,F.H. | Automotive engineering | 1997


    Prime Movers for Series Hybrid Vehicles

    Moeller, F. H. / Society of Automotive Engineers | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1997


    Prime Movers for Series Hybrid Vehicles

    Moeller, F. H. | SAE Technical Papers | 1997


    Locomotive Prime Movers

    Dincer, Ibrahim / Hogerwaard, Janette / Zamfirescu, Calin | Springer Verlag | 2015