Page - 28 - in Our Car as Power Plant

28 The old Ford Model T had an engine capacity of 15 KW. A modern car has an engine capacity above 100 kW. The North American average engine capacity for cars and light-duty trucks in 2006 was about 220 horsepower or 164 kW (14). In Europe the average passenger car engine capacity in 2008 was 84 kW (8,9). It is obvious that world- wide the car engine capacity has grown, by approximately 2 to 3% per year. Let us assume that the average car engine capacity in the world is only 50 kW. That would imply that the total car engine capacity in 2012 was about 50 million MW or 50 TW. The new cars brought to the market do certainly have a bigger engine capacity. But let us assume that the aver- age engine capacity for new cars is only about 100 kW. That means that in 2012 a total car engine capacity of 8 million MW or 8 TW has been bought and is driving on the road. And with 2.5 billion vehicles on the road in 2050, assuming still an average engine capacity of 100 kW, the total car engine capacity on the road will be over 250 million MW or 250 TW.