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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: 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.
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