In the vehicle registration document, you will never find how many horsepower the car has. The power is listed in kilowatts, abbreviated as kW. This leads to the question: how many horsepower does one kW (kilowatt) have? Many drivers end up in serious contradictions when it comes to calculating the actual horsepower of the car.
You should know that the number of kilowatts in the registration document represents the actual number of horsepower that the car’s engine generates, not the number of horsepower at the wheel; the difference is significant.
The transition from kW to horsepower and the connection between a car’s horsepower and real horses can be traced back to the 18th century when the Scottish engineer James Watt introduced the term “horsepower” or “cal putere.” He used it to compare the power of steam engines to the power of real horses. Later on, horsepower was used to measure the power of various types of piston engines, as well as turbines, electric motors, and other machinery.
Since 2010, throughout the European Union, the term “horsepower” can only be used as an additional unit of measurement.
James Watt stated that one horsepower is calculated as follows: 75 kg x 9.8 m/s^2 x 1 m/s = 1 HP. This calculation refers to the power of a horse to lift 75 kg against the Earth’s gravitational force over a distance of 1 meter in one second. One horsepower is equivalent to 735 watts.
How many horsepower can a person generate? An average person can generate about 1.2 horsepower, while a high-performance athlete can reach up to 3.5.
As I mentioned earlier, the power of engines has been officially and legally measured only in kilowatts since 1972.
How many horsepower does one kilowatt have?
You will find various answers on the internet, and you might even have friends who will tell you that 1 kW equals 1.3 HP, 1.35 HP, or even 1.6 HP. The correct answer is that 1 kW is equal to 1.34102 HP.
Use the calculator below to convert kW to HP.
[[kw-cp-calculator]]
So, the calculation is simple. The number of kilowatts x 1.34102 = the actual number of horsepower.
It’s important to know that manufacturers round up the actual number of horsepower. They are obligated to declare the kilowatts, and in some countries, car owners even pay taxes based on the number of kilowatts listed in the car’s documents, not based on horsepower or cubic capacity.
What does BHP, HP, WHP mean?
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BHP stands for brake horsepower. The name refers to the horsepower calculated according to the formula and using the information from the car’s registration documents. These are, in fact, the real horsepower, the true performance of the engine after the losses that can occur during the combustion process are subtracted. Of course, this power is developed under optimal operating conditions when the engine is new.
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HP stands for horsepower. The name refers to the power that the engine should theoretically have. The engine I mentioned in the example above should have 150 horsepower if there were no mechanical losses, but this is impossible. The vehicle registration authorities consider BHP because this indicator is the closest to the real performance of the car.
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WHP stands for wheel horsepower. This name actually represents the number closest to reality when we want to know how many horsepower the car has. It is the lowest number of HP because the measurement is taken at the wheel, without the losses from the engine and the vehicle’s transmission.
1 KW 1,34 CP 10 KW 13,4 CP 11 KW 14,75 CP 15 KW 20 CP 20 KW 26,8 CP 30 KW 40 CP 35 KW 47 CP 40 KW 54 CP 44 KW 59 CP 45 KW 60,3 CP 47 KW 63 CP 48 KW 64,3 CP 49 KW 65,7 CP 50 KW 67 CP 51 KW 68,4 CP 54 KW 72,4 CP 55 KW 73,7 CP 56 KW 75 CP 57 KW 76,4 CP 58 KW 77,7 CP 59 KW 79 CP 60 KW 80,4 CP 61 KW 81,8 CP 62 KW 83,1 CP 63 KW 84,4 CP 65 KW 87,1 CP 66 KW 88,5 CP 67 KW 90 CP 68 KW 91,3 CP 70 KW 93,9 CP 71 KW 95,2 CP 72 KW 96,5 CP 73 KW 97,8 CP 74 KW 99 CP 75 KW 101 CP 76 KW 102,3 CP 77 KW 104,5 CP 78 KW 105,8 CP 79 KW 107 CP 80 KW 107,2 CP 81 KW 108,6 CP 82 KW 110 CP 83 KW 111,3 CP 84 KW 112,6 CP 85 KW 114 CP 86 KW 115,3 CP 87 KW 116,6 CP 88 KW 118 CP 89 KW 119,3 CP 90 KW 120,7 CP 91 KW 122 CP 92 KW 123,4 CP 93 KW 124,8 CP 94 KW 126 CP 95 KW 127,3 CP 96 KW 128,6 CP 100 KW 134,1 CP 103 KW 138,1 CP 105 KW 140,8 CP 107 KW 143,5 CP 110 KW 147,5 CP 115 KW 154,2 CP 118 KW 158,2 CP 120 KW 160,9 CP 122 KW 163,6 CP 125 KW 167,6 CP 130 KW 174,3 CP 132 KW 177 CP 135 KW 181 CP 140 KW 187,7 CP 141 KW 189 CP 142 KW 190,4 CP 143 KW 191,7 CP 150 KW 201 CP 155 KW 208 CP 160 KW 214,5 CP 165 KW 221 CP 170 KW 228 CP 176 KW 236 CP 180 KW 241,3 CP 190 KW 254,7 CP 195 KW 261 CP 200 KW 268 CP 225 KW 301,7 CP 230 KW 308,4 CP 235 KW 315 CP 240 KW 321,8 CP 245 KW 328,5 CP 250 KW 335 CP 300 KW 402 CP 320 KW 429 CP