Mazda Announces Breakthrough In Long-Coveted Engine Technology (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Mazda Motor Corp said it would become the world's first automaker to commercialize a much more efficient petrol engine using technology that deep-pocketed rivals have been trying to engineer for decades, a twist in an industry increasingly going electric. The new compression ignition engine is 20 percent to 30 percent more fuel efficient than the Japanese automaker's current engines and uses a technology that has eluded the likes of Daimler AG and General Motors Co. Mazda, with a research and development (R&D) budget a fraction of those of major peers, said it plans to sell cars with the new engine from 2019. A homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine ignites petrol through compression, eliminating spark plugs. Its fuel economy potentially matches that of a diesel engine without high emissions of nitrogen oxides or sooty particulates. Mazda's engine employs spark plugs under certain conditions, such as at low temperatures, to overcome technical hurdles that have hampered commercialization of the technology.

Comments

Re:I wanted to RFTA

[Scarred Intellect]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mazda-strategy-idUSKBN1AO0E7

Or use the link in the title of the article

Re:Too little, too late

[WillAffleckUW]

Not in the West.

If you live in the West, 40 percent of your contribution to climate change is from transportation.

Which is one of the reasons why we lead in electric and hybrid purchases.

Re:I'll Be Amazed

[Strider-]

The bigger problem I would expect, is getting it to pass emissions. I would guess that it'll do great on CO2, but it'll blow NOX worse than a Diesel.

If they get their fuel/air mix right, there won't be a NOx issue as there won't be enough left over oxygen to produce NOx in significant quantities. Modern diesels produce it due to the high flame temperatures, and because by definition they run extremely lean. If they're running it like a gasoline engine, where the goal is to completely consume the oxygen in the charge air, then the NOx issues should be relatively well controlled.

Oh please

[fyngyrz]

the overall cost of producing the electricity, in terms of pollution aren't that far apart [for fossil fuel ICEV and charging current for EV].

Yeah, actually the absolute pollution levels for these are quite far apart, and getting further apart every day. That's without even counting systems specifically designed to supply short-ride vehicles locally via solar. The efficiency of power production for vehicle charging at a fossil-fuel power plant, even after transmission losses to the charging point, is far better than an ICE can do on a per-vehicle basis. But don't let the facts stop you from spreading your fud. It seems to be the new normal anyway.

Re:IC engine efficiency is hardly 20%

[drinkypoo]

Gasoline engines don't run ideally. They run rich-lean-rich-lean. Then the catalyst averages it out, more or less.

Re:Too little, too late

[Rei]

And people like you are the reason for the high rate of freeway accidents.

News flash: You're Not Supposed To Drive For 8 Hours Straight. You're supposed to take breaks every few hours. Stop endangering other drivers because you don't want to waste 15 minutes here and there to get out and stretch.

This post is independent of what you think of EVs. I don't care what sort of car you drive, but stop putting other people at risk because you're in a rush.

Re:Convenience of electric - except in winter

[AmiMoJo]

AC is better for keeping windows mist free than heat. My Leaf has a heat pump and AC system, so I normally blast both for maybe 20 seconds to fully de-mist the car when setting off (often automatically on a timer while it's still plugged in, so doesn't even touch the battery) and then just keep heat and AC on the minimum setting to maintain.

It ends up reducing range by 5-10%, depending on conditions and driving style.