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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 Grishnakh on Thursday August 10 2017, @05:48PM (4 children)
You're absolutely right about his post being incredibly stupid, and I like your PC/typewriter analogy.
However, the maintenance cost thing I don't think is quite true. Teslas have very expensive maintenance, way more than my Mazda, and it does include changing the coolant: EVs use coolant to cool the motor and also to regulate battery temperature. I don't know how often it actually has to be changed though, but on modern gas cars you only have to change it at 100k miles usually. It'd be interesting to see what the maintenance costs on a Bolt are. From a quick Google search, my.chevrolet.com shows that it needs the tires rotated every 7500 miles, and the cabin air filter changed every 22,500 miles (what a strange interval...), and finally the coolant has to be changed at 150k. The Tesla Model S, however, needs service at 12k miles or 1 year, and this costs $600, then a $700 service at 2 years, then a $900 service at 4 years. Of course, Tesla supporters will point out that this is in-line with service costs for high-end brands like Audi, but it sure isn't showing that EVs are "zero maintenance" by any means. They even replace the brake fluid after 2 years; my Mazda doesn't require any such thing.
(Score: 2) by BasilBrush on Friday August 11 2017, @02:31AM
I'd be more interested in service charges on the Bolt/Leaf/Model 3. They seem like more typical EVs.
All the components I can think of should need either the same of less maintainance on an EV. There's nothing that would need more. There used to be concern about the batteries needing replacement, but time has shown that actually in most cases the batteries last as long as the car with no maintanace needed (beyond perhaps the coolant you mentioned).
Brakes in particular should require much less maintainance as most of the braking is typically regen.
Hurrah! Quoting works now!
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday August 11 2017, @02:35PM (2 children)
Those are dealer prices, which are always sky high. My last car (I buy them used) the dealer mailed me a note saying it needed $2500 worth of work. My regular mechanic? $150. The "change brake fluid" is a pretty good hint that it's a money grab; brakes on an EV would be no different than on a regular vehicle.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday August 11 2017, @03:20PM (1 child)
Yeah, but on a Tesla, it's impossible for anyone but the dealer to do a lot of service or diagnostics because they use proprietary scan tools and they're not available to anyone else (except in Mass., where they're available but at a really exorbitant rate, only because of that state's right-to-repair law). With other brands, independent mechanics can buy the tools. Of course, you might not really need the special tools to do the service, but I'm not sure.
Brakes on an EV are different: they're used less often because of regenerative braking. So while inspection is a good idea as usual, they don't need the pads changed nearly as often. Changing brake fluid shouldn't be necessary any more frequently than any other car, but you never know: the factory does spec it that way, and maybe they have a reason for that (or maybe they're just making up unnecessary service to make $$$). Honestly, if a carmaker says the brake fluid in their car needs to be completely replaced every 2 years, that really makes me suspicious that they did a lousy engineering job, because no other car I'm aware of has such a requirement. Your typical Honda certainly doesn't need brake fluid changed anywhere near that often.
Now, in your particular case I do have to ask what kind of car you have that the dealer would ask $2500 (!!!) for regular service. That's just insane. Yeah, dealerships are frequently callled "stealerships" for good reason, but that's far above and beyond even the inflated dealership prices I've heard of (I do all my own work) for regular maintenance. Is that a BMW or something?
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday August 12 2017, @12:59PM
It was a five year old chrysler Concorde I bought at a Ford dealer.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org