"The Incredible Shrinking Engine"

Summary: they add a turbo, direct fuel injection and also squirt in some ethanol to allow higher compression without knocking. They say an engine like this will add $1000-1500 to the cost of a vehicle and a hybrid adds $3000-5000 to a vechicle (no sources listed for these numbers, as usual.)

Nothing really new here unfortunately. Too bad the MIT guy and the author wouldn't consider adding all these tweaks to a hybrid car... a turbo hybrid! :lol:

 

I don't really understand why (other than economic reasons) this is presented as a competitor to hybrid technology rather a possible adjunct.

This forced-induction-plus-ethanol-injection strategy is applied to the engine; hybrid technology is applied between the engine and the wheels.

The combined "premium" for both strategies, even accepting the article's numbers, would be $4-6.5K. It might not be worth applying the additional technology to something like a Prius to eke out, say, 65 MPG instead of 50. However, applying both technologies (EtOH/turbo and hybrid) to something like a SUV and increasing its fuel economy from 15 to 30 MPG would still be quite economically viable to a prospective (smart) SUV buyer who anticipates driving a lot of miles over the lifespan of the vehicle at $2.50 and up gas prices.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ari @ Mar 29 2007, 03:26 PM) [snapback]414413[/snapback]</div>

nooooooo! This technology only works on powertrains that aren't augmented with electric motors. Electricity and turbochargers don't like each other and won't work if put in the same car... :lol:

 

I love Volkswagen Golf GT 1.4L TSI 170 PS engine with 2L performance.
http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/golf/engines
http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/technology_glossary/TSI
It's super-charger + turbo-charger + direct fuel injection in real now.

Ken@Japan