Looking To Better Engines Instead of Electric Vehicles

hlovy writes "Don Runkle thinks it's engines, not batteries, that will make automobiles cleaner and more efficient. 'We unabashedly say that we have the best solution,' says Runkle, the CEO of Allen Park, MI-based engine developer EcoMotors International. The startup, which brought in $23 million in Series B financing this summer from Menlo Park, CA-based Khosla Ventures and Seattle billionaire Bill Gates, has designed an opposing piston, opposing cylinder engine that uses fewer parts than traditional motors do and generates more power from each stroke of the engine, CEO Runkle says. He says the 'opoc' engine is smaller, lighter, and less expensive than the motors already out there, and a more viable option than switching automobile fleets over to electrical power."

Comments

Well

[hjf]

No. Even if we make more efficient engines, we still have the oil dependency. Maybe when we're really low on oil, we can have fusion power (not Mr. Fusion...) and be done with fossile fuels and "eco-friendly" energies like bird-killing windmills.

This may be just a short-term solution, but not the real answer.