As part of the Technology Strategy Board's (TSB) ongoing efforts of promoting and supporting research into environmentally friendly automotive technology, the group has given funding to Ricardo, Jaguar and Land Rover for quite a few separate projects. Five of the projects are outlined here:
Until electric cars and their associated technologies (motors, batteries, controllers etc.) become mainstream, the internal combustion engine will need to be further refined in order to meet upcoming fuel economy requirements and current emissions regulations -- while still producing the power that consumers have come to expect. HCCI is one technology currently being developed to make the
There is much more to building complete battery packs for electric cars and hybrids than most people think about. Sure, cells are available - they are powering the laptop that this story is being written on. Just ask Tesla about taking a few thousand of those batteries and turning them into a unit capable of powering an electric car. To help turn those loose cells into usable battery packs, power-train engineering consultant Ricardo has created a new Battery Systems Development Center in Detroit
While the corporate average fuel economy requirements in the energy bill that was passed last week mean a lot of extra work for automakers, some see it as an opportunity. One of those is Ricardo. The engineering consultancy that specializes in power-train work has set up a new unit called Total Vehicle Fuel Economy (TFVE). The TFVE group will be working with client companies to optimize all the vehicle systems with the goal of improving efficiency. They are looking beyond just the engines and tr
Power-train engineering consultant Ricardo is partnering with QinetiQ to try bring the cost of lithium ion batteries down so that they can be commercially viable. They have launched a two-year project called RED-LION (reduced cost lithium ion) to try and slash the cost of advanced batteries without degrading performance. In June of 2006 the companies showed off a diesel hybrid demonstrator based on a Citroen Berlingo van but it was acknowledged at the time that the extra cost of the hybrid syste
Clean Air Power has revealed that they collaborated with engineering consultancy Ricardo on a generation of the Dual-Fuel system for diesel trucks. The Dual-Fuel system blends natural gas with diesel to help reduce CO2 emissions and and fuel costs. The system is also capable of using synthetic biogas in place of the natural gas and is biodiesel compatible.
Ricardo has just announced that they have been able to create a diesel engine which is able to meet the Tier II Bin 5 US emission requirements without using any NOx aftertreatment devices. These devices tend to be expensive and are often the reason that diesel engined cars cost more than their gasoline stablemates. What's more is that by adding some innovative new aftertreatment devices, Ricardo believes that they can meet the U.S. Super Ultra-Low Emission (SULEV) a
The US Department of Energy will be providing funding to a partnership comprised of Ricardo, Bosch and the University of Michigan for research on an optimized flex-fuel engine (see related post). The team will start with an existing gasoline optimized engine that is turbocharged and direct injected. After characterizing the engine, Bosch and U of M will focus on developing quick ac
Right now in the U.S., hybrids are all the rage among drivers who want to be more green in what they drive, but it may not stay that way for much longer. New research by Ricardo and UBS is projecting that total sales of hybrid and diesel vehicles will hit 2.7 million annually by 2012, and that oil burners will account for 1.5 million of those sales. For those not good with math, the report is claiming that within five years, diesels will outsell hybrids in the U.S.
For the past several years the FIA has been struggling with the technical rules for Formula One racing, trying to cut speeds, and the enormous cost of competing in the sport. They have also been trying to find ways to make the sport relevant and incorporate technology that would actually benefit real cars. One of the ideas that has been floated is adding hybrid drive systems to F1 cars.
