With new technology, Mazda gives spark to petrol engine
HIROSHIMA, Japan: In the high-stakes, high-cost battle among global carmakers to develop ever more efficient vehicles, one of the biggest breakthroughs in internal combustion engine technology in years looks to be coming from one of the industry’s smaller players.
Mazda Motor Corp has zoomed past its larger global rivals to develop an engine which ignites petrol using combustion ignition technology, a fuel-saving process considered something of a holy grail of efficient petrol engines.
As global emissions regulations get tougher, not only could Mazda’s technology prolong the life of internal combustion engines, it could also improve ecologically “greener” engines as they can be used to produce more efficient petrol hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Mazda will showcase the Skyactiv-X technology at the Tokyo Motor Show this week. When it launches the engine in 2019, the automaker says it will deliver as much as 30 per cent fuel efficiency over its SkyactivG engine, already one of the most fuel efficient petrol engines on the market.
“Our resources are limited, so unlike bigger automakers, we don’t have the array of options in which to invest our R&D funds,” said Mitsuo Hitomi, managing executive officer at Mazda who oversees engine development.
“That’s why we’re betting on this technology ... We were determined that no matter what, we would develop this engine,” Hitomi told Reuters in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Hiroshima.
Churning out around 1.6 million in annual vehicle sales, Mazda accounts for only a sliver of global car sales, and its R&D budget is roughly a tenth that of leading competitor Toyota Motor Corp.
Many carmakers with big spending budgets have invested heavily in developing a host of new powertrain technologies, including petrol hybrids, battery electric cars and fuel cell vehicles, as fuel efficient alternatives to petrol and diesel vehicles.
But Mazda believes fuelsipping engines are a better way to reduce carbon emissions than cars powered by fossil fuelgenerated electricity, focusing on the Skyactiv-G high-compression petrol engine, and its diesel cousin, the Skyactiv-D.
Its latest technology is a variant of homogeneous charge combustion ignition (HCCI) technology, which marries the clean-burning qualities of petrol engines and the fuel economy and grunt of diesel engines to produce an efficient, powerful engine.
”Kudos to them for taking the next step,” said Paul Najt, Group Manager of Research & Development at GM, which began showing an early HCCI prototype around 2007.
“Our resources are limited, so unlike bigger automakers, we don’t have the array of options in which to invest our R&D funds. That’s why we’re betting on this technology ... We were determined that no matter what, we would develop this engine. Mitsuo Hitomi, managing executive officer at Mazda