More Fuel-Efficient Cars

Reported October 2005

PITTSBURGH (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- High gas prices are forcing consumers to fork over fistfuls of cash at the pump. In fact, AAA says prices are now a dollar more than this time last year. Now, a new car technology might offer some relief when filling up your car at the pump.

Rising gas prices are hitting Andy Carson where it hurts -- his wallet. "I think gas prices are going to have a tremendous effect on my decision on what car I'm going to buy," Carson says. Fuel economy is playing a big part in his decision. Now, new high-tech materials for cars may produce a car to fit his budget.

Richard Fruehan, Ph.D., a metallurgical engineer from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, says, "These very new steels have unique properties. This will enable us to use these steels in automobiles and reduce the weight of the automobiles and get the resulting fuel economy."

New steel technologies offer better looks, performance and protection for cars. Fruehan says, "The result will be a car that lasts longer, a car that gets better fuel economy and a car that is safe for the passenger." To make new steel materials, metallurgical engineers mix different kinds of metals, like nickel with iron to make a lighter, stronger, more-flexible product. "These steels are more coatable to resist corrosion, so the steels that we're pitting in are much better," Fruehan says.

Improved materials for cars could be the answer to gas mileage sticker-shock and give Andy Carson an upgrade. "I get good gas mileage now, but I think I can do a lot better," he says. But for now, he's paying the price at the pump and hopes for relief down the road.

If you think the United States prices are high, in Europe, they pay $7.00 a gallon. So experts say now is the time to tackle the problem.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Carnegie Mellon University
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
4322 Wean Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(412) 268-2683

To learn more about engineering, please contact:

The American Society of Civil Engineers
1801 Alexander Bell Drive
Reston, Virginia 20191-4400
(800) 548-2723
http://www.asce.org

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
IEEE-USA
1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202
Washington, D.C. 20036-5104
(202) 785-0017
http://www.ieee.org
ieeeusa@ieee.org




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