Mazda says it has new, secret way to save fuel
New tech for engines will add about 10 mpg
Japanese automaker Mazda said Tuesday it had achieved a breakthrough in old-fashioned gasoline engine technology that could make conventional cars a more viable option to electric motors for a longer time.
Days after striking a partnership to collaborate on electric vehicles with bigger and wealthier competitor Toyota, the scrappy engineers at Mazda announced proprietary engine technology that they say is 20% to 30% more efficient than the automaker’s conventional systems.
They plan to deploy the technology, which also boasts improving torque, in models beginning in 2019.
The technological advancement, which Mazda won’t share with other automakers, shows how the global race to meet fuel economy regulations will take multiple forms and could pave the way for consumers to save on transportation.
Mazda dubbed its new compression-ignition technology Skyactiv-X.
The new engine technology pairs a turbocharger with a piston-compressed fuel-air mixture in a proprietary process that would allow combustion from compression alone, like in a diesel engine.
It would eliminate the need for spark plugs under most conditions and make the engine more efficient. Mazda already
has technology in its cars that boosts the compression ratio in cylinders to get more power for the same amount of gas as compared to ordinary engines.
The automaker said its goal is to slash emissions emanating from its production and products to 50% of 2010 levels by 2030 and
90% by 2050.
With the upgraded engines, a Mazda model that currently gets
30 miles per gallon could get nearly 40 miles per gallon in its next iteration, potentially saving owners at least several dollars per fill-up on a 15-gallon tank of gasoline.
“There was this big hysteria over the death of the internal combustion engine,” Kelley Blue Book analyst Rebecca Lindland said.
“I think Mazda has made it very clear that those headlines were an exaggeration.”
Until now, the conventional wisdom was that consumers would pay more for more fuel-efficient cars required by regulators. But Mazda’s breakthrough suggests innovation is taking hold.
For the foreseeable future, shoppers should expect to have their choice between a wide range of vehicles, including conventional engines, highly efficient engine technology such as Mazda’s, mild hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fully battery-powered electric cars.
“This is another example of the diversity we’re going to see in powertrains and propulsion in automobiles,” Lindland said. “There isn’t one solution, there isn’t one size fits all.”
“If this engine performs as they describe, it’s fun to drive and it keeps with their ‘ zoom-zoom’ heritage, this could be a real game-changer for them,” Lindland said.