How does the color of a car affect fuel consumption?

The same cars can have different fuel consumption, while differing only in color. And this was confirmed by a number of experiments. How this influence occurs, we will consider in this article.

Dark-colored cars heat up faster in the sun

Light-colored cars consume less fuel and emit fewer harmful gases. Research scientists prove why this happens.

Taking a silver and black car and putting them in the hot sun, they found that the reflectivity of a light body is about 50% higher than that of a dark one. Moreover, if you measure the temperature of the roof "at the peak", then on the black model it was 20 - 25 degrees higher than that of the silver one. Consequently, more warm air enters the cabin and it becomes noticeably hotter inside. Namely, with a difference of 5 - 6 degrees. The experiment was carried out on a Honda Civic.

What's more, white vehicles reflect even more heat than silver ones. It was also concluded that cars with a bright interior get rid of heat well.

The climate system has to work harder

In such conditions, the air conditioner will have to work harder. Continuing the experiment, the scientists found that a silver sedan would need 13% less powerful air conditioning.

The climate system takes some of the engine power, and this is not surprising. As a result of the study, it turned out that the fuel economy will be 0,12 l / 100 km (1,1%). Carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by 2,7 g/km.

But for many, the choice of color is personal preference. And only a few will apply this 1% savings by denying themselves their favorite color.

Increased air conditioning increases fuel consumption

As we understood, fuel consumption increases with increased air conditioning.

But different machines have different systems. An economy class car uses a traditional air conditioner, it is a system where the air is first cooled to a minimum, and then heated by a stove to the desired temperature. In expensive cars, there is a climate control system, the advantage of which is to immediately cool the air to the desired temperature. The latter is more economical.

But do not rush to turn off the air conditioner and open the windows. Increasing fuel consumption by 1% using the climate control system is much better than driving with the windows open at high speed.

Thus, the color of the car is insignificant, but affects fuel consumption. If you have the choice to take a light or dark car, you can not give a specific answer. Take what you like.