Fuel Consumption Impacts Of Auto Roof Racks

First estimate of national energy impacts of auto roof racks about 1.

Fuel consumption impacts of auto roof racks.

Mileage went from 41 mpg at 65 mph to 40 mpg. Technical and behavioral policies could significantly cut fuel penalties from roof. The gear with the most impact were the dual mountain bikes strapped to the roof which impacted the fuel economy by 31 percent or 9 mpg. Their study was published recently in the journal energy policy in a paper titled fuel consumption impacts of auto roof racks in addition to projecting the fuel consumption penalty into 2040.

Two novel data collection techniques on line forums and crowd sourcing improve estimate. Fuel consumption impacts of auto roof racks article pdf available in energy policy 92 325 333 may 2016 with 1 083 reads how we measure reads. Adding any rooftop carrier cargo box or ski rack doesn t come free. In fact it significantly cuts your highway mileage all the time it s installed whether there s weight up there or not.

A bottom up approach reveals details of the fuel consumption penalty caused by racks. He found that compared to the baseline of no roof rack the empty rack reduced his mpg by 12 7 and the roof rack with a bicycle reduced it by a whooping 27 3. They found that in 2015 roof racks nationwide were responsible for 0 8 percent of light duty vehicle fuel consumption or 100 million gallons of gasoline. A close second was the kayak with 28 percent or a.

He compared the gas mileage of his car at 54 7 mph 88 kph with 1 no roof racks 2 an empty roof rack and 3 a mountain bike on the roof rack. 30 5mpg astra s baseline fuel economy. How often do you see people needlessly driving around with roof racks on their roof. Sure it might earn you some cool points from some crowds but leaving a bike carrier luggage pod or other cargo toting device on top of your car can impact your fuel consumption and by a significant factor too.