Construction of Transportation Means - Decreasing Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Gas Emissions in Transportation - page 33

body

trunk

engine

chassis

exhaust gas after
treatment

wheel and tire

Fig. 3.1 Main structural elements of cars

number of inhabitants related to the number of cars and the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) nearly has an inverse relationship [ 4 ].
The ratios range from 234 people per car in the Far East to 1.6 people per car in
highly developed countries such as those in the EU, Australia, and the USA. The
distribution of commercial vehicles is more balanced than the density of cars on
the world because supplying people with goods means an important task in all
countries. The scope ranges from 55 people per commercial vehicle in Africa to
2.6 citizens per commercial vehicle in the EU, Australia, and Oceania [ 5 ].
By 2015, the number of road vehicles will increase to 1.124 billion. Currently
fuel consumption is intensively growing in all sectors of road transport. Recent
distribution is rapidly changing because of increasing meaning of developing
countries. In the next years, Europe will have a portion of 33%, North America
33%, Asia 25%, and other regions 9% [ 6 ].

3.1.1 Main Construction Elements of Cars

Automobile body styles are highly variable but the main construction principles
are common. The main structural elements of passenger car construction are
shown in Fig. 3.1 .

3.1.2 Classification of Vehicles

The long history of automobile technology has led to a wide spectrum of vehicle
types (see Table 3.1 )[ 7 ].
Depending on use and construction, the EU legislation classifies street vehicles
with their own engines according to Directive 71/320/EEC in two classes (see
Table 3.2 )[ 8 ].