Technology Review: Ultra-Efficient Gas Engine Passes Test Transonic Combustion, a startup based in Camarillo, TX, has developed a fuel-injection system it says can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by more than 50 percent. A test vehicle equipped with the technology gets 64 miles per gallon in highway driving, which is far better than more costly gas-electric hybrids, such as the Prius, which gets 48 miles per gallon on the highway.
Important details are never in the 1st paragraph.. "The company also treats the gasoline with a catalyst that "activates" it, partially oxidizing it to enhance combustion." This is really a publication of MIT? It reads like a press release. I'm not saying the technology isn't real, but it still smells like vaporware to me.
Jeez, they make "the Prius, which gets 48 miles per gallon on the highway" sound so dirty. Is it me or does it sound like a little bit of Prius-bashing? It's kind of odd that they picked on the Prius....Why didn't they use a Ford Fusion Hybrid for comparison???
Well, I was trying to stick to fair use rules of this forum, but here's the full 2nd paragraph: "The key is heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber, says Mike Rocke, Transonic's vice president of business development. This puts it into a supercritical state that allows for very fast and clean combustion, which in turn decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a vehicle. The company also treats the gasoline with a catalyst that "activates" it, partially oxidizing it to enhance combustion." The rest of the article seems to make clear that this is in actual testing. Anything that might make a good thing better is fine by me.
