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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.
"It's a major breakthrough," said Ryoji Miyashita, chairman of automotive engineering company AEMSS Inc.
[...] 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.
[...] AEMSS' Miyashita said a key issue would be how smooth and responsive the engine is.
"Is it jerky? If so, that would pose a big question when it comes to commercializing this technology." he said. "Hopefully Mazda has an answer to that question."
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mazda-strategy-idUSKBN1AO0E7
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mechanicjay on Wednesday August 09 2017, @11:33PM (7 children)
Mazda has been knocking it out of the park the last few years with the whole SkyActiv engineering philosophy. Should these engines prove themselves, they will be approaching similar fuel economy/efficiency as as other manufacturers without the need to cheat emissions test or graft 500lbs of batteries and electric motors onto the powertrain. I'm excited to see this bear fruit.
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday August 10 2017, @01:31AM (4 children)
It'd be better to see them pair this up with the hybrid tech from the Prius. Mazda also just announced with Toyota that they're working on a joint venture, and there's been pictures floating around of a prototype Mazda 3 they built with the 2.0L SkyActiv engine and a Prius-style hybrid system. And Toyota's Scion division is selling the Mazda 2 in the US as the "iA".
(Score: 2) by mechanicjay on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:23PM (3 children)
Checkout Mazda i-eloop setup. Regenerative braking with a capacitor. I think you end up with most of the great benefits of a prius style hybrid, ie. capture breaking energy to use again to get going, but without all the weight of the batteries. It's an interesting setup. I assume that's going to be their next big production announcement in a year or so.
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Grishnakh on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:39PM (2 children)
Yeah, I have a Mazda 3 with this. They're actually dropping it on the 2018 models because so few buyers wanted it: they decoupled it from the other safety features on the 2017 model, offering it as a stand-alone option (which probably got close to zero buyers), and now they're dropping it entirely.
In practice, it doesn't improve fuel economy very much. According to the EPA, I think it helped by 1-2mpg IIRC. It also uses an expensive "Q85" type battery that costs $500 to replace at the dealer when it goes (and all car batteries have a limited lifetime), though from my research it seems that any deep-cycle AGM battery (like an Optima yellow-top, or one of the Bosch AGM batteries sold at Pep Boys) should be a drop-in replacement, but they don't tell you that.
I assume that's going to be their next big production announcement in a year or so.
They've had i-eLoop on production cars since 2013 IIRC, starting with the Mazda 6. It's never sold well. The extra cost ($800 on the '17 Mazda3) for 1mpg or so just isn't economically sound in an age of $2/gallon gasoline. It's not a real hybrid anyway; it avoids running the alternator most of the time (which is a small but noticeable power loss on a normal car engine, esp. these days with electric power steering) until you're coasting, at which time it engages the alternator and charges a capacitor, which it then uses to recharge the battery and power the electrical accessories (mainly steering). the energy recaptured is much lower than what an actual hybrid with a traction motor recaptures in regenerative braking.
They're probably going to drop it altogether.
Other car companies have had similar systems: Volvo I know uses something just like it, and I think BMW does too. Those are also much more expensive cars, so another few hundred $ in parts isn't such a big deal there as it is in a sub-$35k Mazda.
Finally, there's this:
ie. capture breaking energy to use again to get going,
Surely you aren't a real mechanic.
(Score: 2) by mechanicjay on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:51PM
Surely you aren't a real pedant.
Other than that bit of assholery at the end there, that was a well thought and informative post.
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday August 13 2017, @03:30AM
Never attribute to incompetence what can be adequately explained by autocorrection.
Account abandoned.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 10 2017, @04:20AM
If you are not paid for this, you are a moron.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday August 10 2017, @04:54PM
No, they're too late. The era of gasoline and diesel is ebbing and the era of electric has begun.
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