Like every other automaker that intends to do business in the U.S., Hyundai is planning for the future and the proposed fuel economy standards that are expected to hit in 2015. Currently, Hyundai's passenger cars average 32.4 mpg, while its trucks average 25.5 mpg. When the new regulations are in place, those numbers will have to increase to 37.5 mpg and 31.0 mpg, respectively. Hyundai's approach involves two separate strategies that will work together to achieve those figures.
The first step is to increase electrical efficiency by utilizing more LED technology that puts less strain on the powertrain, along with the use of electric power steering systems (in place of hydraulic units), direct-injection engines and six-speed transmissions. Those changes will be accompanied by the use of lightweight materials, aerodynamic enhancements and low-rolling resistance tires. While the electric power steering system only adds around one mpg overall, the combination of DI engines and six-speed 'boxes should increase fuel economy by between three and six percent.
Within the next two years, Hyundai plans to equip all of its V6-powered vehicles with six-speed gearboxes, while smaller models, with four-cylinder mills, will be upgraded to five-speed transmissions. All of this should help Hyundai achieve its goals, but more needs to be done, and Hyundai's senior manager of the powertrain department, Timothy White, says, "There is really no home run out there." Incremental are what it's about for the time being, and Hyundai seems to be making the first of many steps to accomplish that goal.
When the C-Class predecessor launched, it was known as the 190 and carried a four-cylinder powerplant underhood. Mercedes is now considering a return to four-pots in the U.S. market as the price of fuel continues to soar. MBZ is reportedly already testing a 1.4-liter carrying a supercharger, which is strange when you consider there's already a 1.8-liter blown four-cylinder on sale in Europe. The C180 Kompressor seems like it'd be the easy way to get fours back into the U.S. lineup, but Mercedes must have some other ideas driving the decision to develop the smaller 1.4.
Even stranger, while the talk is all about forced induction, the end result will supposedly be underwhelming in the power department, so Mercedes is planning on ramping up the glitter without delivering the gold. Perceived performance is the euphemism for a car that comes with a loud exhaust and twitchy throttle, and that's what Mercedes engineers think it will take to make the car palatable to U.S. buyers. Gee, leave the sound insulation out so that 25 mph feels like 100 and we're sold! Seriously, is this a late April Fool's joke? "Perceived performance?" A car that's not in denial about being thrifty might be more successful than a poseur.
Efficiency is a large stumbling block if you're looking for a way to replace gasoline. It's pretty hard to better such an exceptional fuel, and several alternatives show promise but are nagged by inefficiencies or cost, and usually both. Nanotech to the rescue; it may soon be possible to produce your own hydrogen at home cheaply and easily, and NiMH batteries and fuel cells also stand to become less expensive and offer much better performance. With claims like that, QuantumSphere might well be selling fairy dust, but the Portland, Oregon-based company has developed a nanoparticle coating that may end up being the key to making alternative fuels actually viable.
QuantumSphere's catalytic nanoparticle coatings have 1,000 times the surface area of traditional materials, which means that more catalytic action can be housed in the same space. It's the the highly reactive nature of the coatings that allows cheap home electrolysis, also boding well for replacing precious metals like platinum in fuel cells with a coated piece of stainless steel. QuantumSphere's president Kevin Maloney claims that his company's technology makes electrolysers so efficient that they can supply hydrogen on demand while driving. The technology will roll out later this year in a battery that uses a coated cathode for a five-fold increase in energy density, which translates into a 320-percent power gain over alkaline cells. If things go QuantumSphere's way, we won't be paying $100,000 for the Tesla Roadster in a few years, and it will have an even better range than already promised.
Ford is looking for ways to pack their automobiles with innovative technology that achieves the seemingly impossible goal of using smaller, more efficient engines while still delivering the performance wallop customers are demanding. Not only is the Blue Oval seeking more involvement from their suppliers to push new technology and techniques forward, but the automaker's also looking outside the typical realm of automotive OEMs.
One promising new technology is a system developed by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology startup company. Putting a modern-day spin on the concept of water or alcohol injection to either boost octane or cool the cylinder charge (or both), the MIT developed fuel injection system uses direct injection to deliver a shot of ethanol when the engine is under heavy load. The intravenous drip allows turbocharger boost pressure to be cranked way up, adding a significant amount of power gain. Normally, with your wastegate actuators cranked all the way down, you'd discover new and exciting ways to ventilate the crankcase, but this system keeps detonation at bay, which keeps the pistons in the block.
Cerberus isn't wasting any time teaching its new elephant to tapdance. Just days after closing the deal, taking over Chrysler and bringing Robert Nardelli on board, Cerberus has earmarked $3 billion for new powertrain facilities, indicating some level of its desire to steward the brand back to strength. Work has started on three engine plants that will build a new family of V6 engines incorporating the fuel-saving multi-displacement system. Ground has also been broken on a transmission plant that will build a new dual-clutch unit co-developed with Getrag, as well as an axle plant that allows an efficiency gain due to Mercedes technology.
Frank Klegon, executive vice president of product development, cited Cerberus's ability as a private company to quickly put decisions into action. The move speaks to an awareness that product is key to a return to profitability. The new engines and axles will improve performance, but more importantly in light of CAFE requirements, they'll boost efficiency. Putting better parts into their current model lineup is one thing, but Chrysler desperately needs some compelling new product (as good as the new Sebring is, it's about as exciting as a bowl of un-set Jell-O) to really deliver the needed shot in the arm.
It would seem that BMW reads Autoblog. How else would you explain them, at least partially, answering our question about how a conventional automobile would utilize some of the hybrid demon-tweaks?
For the first time ever, BMW has equipped a non-hybrid car with a regenerative braking system. There's a new battery that uses fiberglass mats between the plates to keep the electrolytes put, and a corresponding "intelligent" alternator. The battery technology, known as Absorbtive Glass Mat construction is capable of being charged very quickly without boiling; and they stand up far better to the deep cycling that would be abusive to a traditional lead-acid battery. The ability to receive and deliver high amperages reliably makes the AGM batteries ideal for coupling with the rest of BMWs Efficient Dynamics program. The battery can be fully charged during braking, which reduces the load on the engine by making the alternator work less. The program's intent is to reduce weight and fuel consumption, ultimately keeping CO2 emissions down. BMWs efforts result in a vehicle that has the low-rolling-resistance tires, electrically operated AC and power steering and stop/start systems of a hybrid, without the electric motors.
Hybrids definitely do work -- we're not refuting that -- how well they work is open to debate, however, especially in light of the revisions to EPA mileage numbers. So, let's examine the Prius. Amazingly engineered vehicle, that's for sure. The way they got all those different systems to work as a team and perform smooth handoffs between functions is pretty incredible. We're not going to bother with the electric powertrain portion of it for now. Have you ever poked around the gasoline engine in the Prius? Interesting stuff, lots of little tweaks to boost efficiency. We're wondering, having looked over the Prius, whether you could realize most of the gains without the batteries and motor.
Just a decade ago, engine management was a relatively simple affair. Spark advance and fuel injection quantities were the key parameters, and the determination of both was a relatively simple matter of determining engine speed and load and using those values to index a lookup table. Nowadays, however, technology to improve power, drivability, and fuel consumption - such as variable valve timing and lift, intake tuning, and variable displacement - have greatly complicated the task of calibrating an engine control unit (ECU).
Steve Magner from Ford was at the 2006 SAE Convergence electronics show to speak on this topic and discuss what steps might be taken in the future to improve engine performance and decrease time-to-market. He used the term "high degree of freedom" (HDOF) to describe the typical modern powerplant, and explained that the table-based method ("full factorial mapping") of calibrating ECUs has basically reached its limit. Where as it's desirable to complete the calibration of a new engine in about four months, a HDOF engine currently requires up to 15 months to fully define in the laboratory. In one example, developing just the timing maps for the EPA' s fuel economy test cycle involved 630 states of operation and three months of time on the dyno. Design-of-experiment techniques can be developed to simplify the mapping process, but at the cost of effectiveness - over 25% of a new technology's potential benefit can be lost via incomplete mapping efforts.
Ultimately, the solution proposed by Magner is the direct monitoring of combustion quality, with closed-loop feedback constantly working to optimize the various operation parameters. The two technologies currently being explored are pressure measurement and ion detection schemes, with the former being easier to implement but the latter perhaps being more cost-effective (indeed, Saab has used such a technique for quite some time, albeit with significantly reduced functionality than what is being discussed here). Variations between each cylinder will require that each carry its own sensor, and the required resolution (with data collected for each degree of crankshaft rotation) requiring computational horespower beyond that provided by modern ECUs. Systems based on digital signal processors (DSPs) may be of some use to make sense of all this data and react quickly enough during transients.
Toyota Motor is methodically going about the task of increasing the efficiency (and lowering the cost) of automotive manufacturing, with its most visible project: a massive upgrade to its 660,000 units a year Takaoka assembly plant.
Toyota CEO Katusuaki Watanabe predicts that the upgrades will make the Takaoka plant "a model for Toyota plants of the future." The plant is the model for clone facilities in the U.S., Canada and France, and innovations proven at Takaoka will plug right in at sister facilities around the world.
Don't expect radical new high-tech to be part of Toyota's factory of the future - Toyota's forte is assembling proven small-scale innovations into new systems that are greater than the sum of their parts. Takaoka's upgrades include:
a new welding system that dramatically cuts the cost of jigs and tooling
a "set parts system" that delivers a kit of parts for each vehicle so line workers don't have to sort through parts bins for the right part
new stamping presses that use servo-motors to replace hydraulics, combined with high-speed delivery robots
a new paint process that eliminates the need to dry the base coat, plus faster electro-static rust-coating.
It doesn't sound too earth-shaking, but the changes will up the production on each line from 220,000 units a year to 250,000 while simultaneously shortening the line. Increases in productivity and efficiency at Takaoka should have a nice impact on the bottom line - the plant produces Toyota's high-volume models, including the low-margin Corolla and Yaris.
Like every other automaker that intends to do business in the U.S., Hyundai is planning for the future and the proposed fuel economy standards that are expected to hit in 2015. Currently, Hyundai's passenger cars average 32.4 mpg, while its trucks average 25.5 mpg. When the new regulations are in place, those numbers will have to increase to 37.5 mpg and 31.0 mpg, respectively. Hyundai's approach involves two separate strategies that will work together to achieve those figures.
Just a decade ago, engine management was a relatively simple affair. Spark advance and fuel injection quantities were the key parameters, and the determination of both was a relatively simple matter of determining engine speed and load and using those values to index a lookup table. Nowadays, however, technology to improve power, drivability, and fuel consumption - such as variable valve timing and lift, intake tuning, and variable displacement - have greatly complicated the task of calibrating an engine control unit (ECU). 
Toyota Motor is methodically going about the task of increasing the efficiency (and lowering the cost) of automotive manufacturing, with its most visible project: a massive upgrade to its 660,000 units a year Takaoka assembly plant.
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