Does Motorcycle Driving Behaviour Affect Emission and Fuel Consumption?

Abstract

The behaviour of motorcycles driver is influenced by many factors, which include the personal characteristics (attitude, experience etc.) environmental (road geometry, traffic control etc.) and vehicle characteristics (performance, load etc.). Increased level of thrill, ability to filter in traffic and overtake ahead queue and higher engine power ratio creates aggressive driving behaviours for motorcyclist. This research is focussed on understanding the different level of driving behaviour and its impact on emission and fuel consumption. Experimental tests were carried out on Chassis dynamometer under typical Edinburgh driving condition. A representative test track was created using a chassis dynamometer to assess the sensitivity of fuel consumption to a wide range of driving patterns. Three types of driving patterns were used based on the rate of acceleration and deceleration levels: average, calm and aggressive driving patterns. For each of these levels motorcycle test runs were carried out in the laboratory. The fuel consumption and emissions were measured at the same time of motorcycle test run and emission factors were predicted also using the TRL emission and fuel coefficients. As per normal driving and aggressive driving, there was little different found in HC, NOx and CO, whereas calm driving shows greater impact on emissions (about 15-17% lower) as compared to emissions emitted during aggressive driving. The results from this study suggest that, reducing speed by changing the driving style in cities would save the amount of fuel and produce lesser emissions. However, the results also show that on an individual basis, the fuel savings achieved from these behaviours would vary significantly as a result of reducing accelerations and/or reducing speeds.