CO2 and energy analysis from the 2011 Future Car Challenge
For the second year running the RAC Foundation was one of the sponsors of the RAC Brighton to London Future Car Challenge, entering a Delta Motorsport E4 (see video on the right) and the Lightning GT. And for the second year the Foundation also had exclusive access to the CO2 and emission data collected from participating vehicles. The overall winner of the Challenge was the Gordon Murray Design T.27.
Analysis of the data shows that on average electric vehicles consumed the least energy as measured in kWh/Km, follwed by plug-in hybrids, normal hybrids and then internal combustion engine-powered cars. While electric vehicles clearly emitted zero tailpipe CO2 emissions, when the well-to-wheel calculations were done, plug-in hybrids narrowly beat the EVs.
Full details of the run and the conclusions drawn from the results are available in The Green Charge written by Luca Lytton and Clemens Lorf. The report was launched at an event at the Royal Automobile Club on 27 March 2012. Speakers included:
- Ricardo Martinez-Botas – Imperial College
- Professor Neville Jackson – Ricardo
- Andy Heiron – Renault UK
- Andrew Gilbert – Qualcomm
- Andrew Everett – Technology Strategy Board
To see what each of the speakers had to say – plus highlights of the 2011 FCC – please watch the video below:
The Delta was driven by the broadcaster and designer Kevin McCloud who gave his thoughts of the E4 at the end of the run:
