'Automobile Fuel Tanks'

• A fuel tank is the part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and released into the engine
• For each new vehicle a specific fuel system has to be developed, as they must optimize the empty space left by the car architecture
• Central locking: Cars generally include a fuel tank filler flap (also called fuel filler cap) integrated in central locking
• Reserve Tank: Sometimes called the reserve tank, a light on the instrument panel of autos typically illuminates when the fuel level dips below a certain point in the tank
• Around 1990, General Motors faced over a hundred lawsuits related to fires allegedly caused by their bright idea to put the fuel tanks in its pickup trucks outside the protection of the vehicle's frame
• In 1993, as one of these lawsuits resulted in a $101 million judgement against GM, the television show Dateline NBC created its own controversy by staging an example of the failures
• It was discovered that Dateline's consultants had rigged the truck with incendiary devices in order to guarantee a fire and GM filed a defamation suit
• Several NBC employees were fired as a result
• Normally, a fuel tank must allow:
  • Filling: the fuel tank must be filled in a secure way
  • Storage of fuel: the system must contain a given quantity of fuel and must avoid leakage and limit evaporative emissions
  • Gauging: the remaining quantity of fuel in the tank must be measured or evaluated
  • Venting: if over-pressure is not allowed, the fuel vapors must be managed through valves
  • Feeding of the engine: through a pump

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