Six Fuel-Saving Technologies to Help Hit 35 mpg Soon

By Paul Weissler
Published on: April 29, 2008

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4261289.html?series=19

DETROIT Carmakers across the globe are already adapting their R&D to hit the new
35-mpg law by 2020and now the Department of Transportation wants to speed up the
fuel-economy boost by five years. Sure, we'll see plenty of hybrids, some plug-ins and
even a few new clean-diesel rides. But as our video tour of GM's HCCI lab for Future
Car Week demonstrates, the focus will likely remain on gasoline engines.

So expect upgrades such as variable intake and exhaust valve timing, reduced engine
friction, turbocharging with direct fuel injection, and light-load cylinder deactivation.
Engines are also expected to downsize in order to save fuel, with more six-, seven- and
eight-speed transmissions on the way, toonot to mention low-rolling-resistance tires
and improved aerodynamics.

To drive a little further in the green directionand still keep costs within reasonhere
are a half-dozen future engine technologies we saw at this month's exclusive SAE World
Congress that, if put into production, could boost the fuel economy of our next generation
of gas-powered cars.

1. Multistage Oil Pump

A regular oil pump has chambers for suction and a discharge chamber. But this one from
automotive supplier Aisin, just introduced in some Toyota products, has two discharge
chambersone slightly smaller than normal, and another even smallerso you can tailor
pressure to when you actually need it, and divide the discharge in half. There's full
pressure from both chambers at idle, some from both at medium speed with higher loads,
and full pressure from just the main chamber with light load conditions. At high rpm,
when a pump would provide more pressure than needed, the oil flow comes from both
chambers but is reduced by bleeding pressure through the relief valve. So it essentially
reduces the total amount of work the pump has to, well, pump out.

2. Shortened Cylinder Head

Automotive engineering consulting firm FEV has come up with a simple but ingenious
method for saving weight while reducing valve size, to rev an engine higher and tune it
better for performance and fuel economy: shorten the cylinder head by 0.6 in. Instead of a
full-length valve-stem guide to hold the valve stem in alignment, FEV's system created a
cylindrical bore around the top of the valve, and instead of just a cap holding the top of
the valve spring to the valve, there's an inverted cover attached to the end of the valve
stem. In valve operation, that metal cover slides through the cylindrical bore, where it
holds the top of the valve and the spring in alignment. Cool.

3. Variable Compression Ratio

Take two cold, hard facts of automotive engineering: An engine's thermal efficiency
improves if it carries a variable compression ratio, which in turn increases with light
engine loads. In theory, then, you should get better fuel economy at constant freeway
speeds when the load on the engine is light. In practice, FEV has a stop-step design for
hollowing out a connection rod with an actuator that pushes on a cam built into the piston
pin. The cam action raises the piston height by 2 mm, which boosts the compression ratio
from 14:1 to 17:1. The actuator is moved by engine oil pressure, applied when the engine
computer activates a small electric motor, which opens a flow-control valve in an oil
passage.

4. Guided-Spray Turbo

Rather than aiming its piezoelectric fuel injector from the side, FEV's 1.8-liter turbo four-
cylinder engine uses a top-entry, with the spray aimed at an adjacent spark plug. The new
design offers better distribution of the fuel mixture and 8 percent better fuel economy
compared to conventional designs that essentially need to spray more fueland modifies
piston heads and intake ports to get what's called the tumble effect to mix the air and
fuel. FEV officials say this stratification of the air/fuel charge brings its fuel economy
numbers within about 10 percent of a 1.8-liter turbodiesel, while still hitting 214 hp and
236 lb.-ft. torque. In a small sedan, the engine would have no problem hitting the 35-mpg
standard.

5. Electromagnetic Valve Actuators

In this design, automotive supplier Valeo replaces the intake camshaft of a twin-cam
engine with electro-magnetic valve actuators, instead of the more pricey and complex
approach of replacing both camshafts with these cam actuators. The intake-only approach
offers improvement in fuel economy between 16 and 19 percentvery close to the
results with two sets of actuators. The improvement comes from infinitely variable valve
lift and timingwithout requiring a 42-volt system. This is still a comparatively
expensive step, but it offers a big improvement and could be cost-effective down the
road.

6. Hydraulic Power Electrification

To eliminate continuous power draw from engine-driven pumps, automakers are
replacing conventional hydraulic power-steering pumps with all-electric systems or
electric-motor-driven pumps that operate only when needed. Expect engine-driven water
pumps across the industry to be replaced by electric onesor at least by smaller engine-
driven water pumps with auxiliary electric pumps for high loads. And look for stop-start
engine technology to combine with electric-drive compressors (think full hybrids), so that
you can shut off the engine and still keep your car cool. These compressors, which can
continue a/c operation after the engine is brought to a fuel-saving stop, are found in
Toyota and Honda hybrids, but not in European and U.S. mild hybrid cars with engine
stop-start. Without the electric compressor, the engine must be kept running when the a/c
is onwasting fuel while keeping passengers comfy.