Etanol.nu

A recent survey of German motorists commissioned by Conti suggests that public awareness of electric vehicles is high. Many believe that, when they come to change their car in five years' time, they could swap their internal combustion engine for an electric motor. Surprisingly few said they didn't have enough information about the technology to pass comment.

It goes to show how much the public is discussing the technology. Part of this must also be due to the industry's engagement on the subject. To get access to finance for R&D, it's been necessary for OEMs to talk much more about the prospects for electric vehicles. That's sensible and is bringing difficult issues such as the problem of charging infrastructures to the fore.

And, while it's encouraging that there's probably going to be a market for a lot of expensive R&D work, it's also important that the public is aware of the developments under way in internal combustion engines. It's not just range extenders for electric vehicles conventional engines could get plastic turbos, turbines spinning on magnetic bearings, and electrostatic ignition systems that mean there's no spark plug.

The industry needs to ensure that the public understands the value and enormity of such advances. They might not be as politically correct as lithiumion, but other technologies ought to be part of a mature debate about the car industry's ideas to cut CO2 emissions.

And the fact is that the effect of introducing downsized engines in significant volumes will be a lot greater in the short term than that of a small number of battery-powered cars charged by a coal-fired energy grid.

Engine designers need a more ambitious target to work towards. VW started production of its 1.4-litre TSI engine in 2006, achieving a power density of 90kW/litre, giving the Golf fuel consumption of 7.4 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of 178g/km.

You should be able to get 100g/km in a gasoline-powered Golf-class car. It's an ambitious target and would mean more radical downsizing and fewer cylinders.

The finished vehicle won't necessarily be a ball of fire to drive, but it's not impossible. The real challenge is priming the market for such cars. The public need to be inspired about the potential for all powertrains, not just electrics.

Tycker han överreagerar lite. Det pratas väl vitt o brett om downsizing, t.o.m BMW och Merzedes pratar 3 cyl motorer. Har för mig att VW pratade om en 3 cyl även till Passat.

Men han har väl rätt i problematiken, som även nämnts av biltillverkarna. Vad det än blir för teknik som kommer att ta över så måste dom tjäna pengar under tiden och en överdriven tro på när elbilar/pluginhybrider släpps i storskaliga volymer samt vad dom erbjuder initiellt är inte nödvändigtvis hälsosamt för branschen.

Vad hände t.ex med BMWs turbosteamer? Pengarna gick till annat som vi vet.

Så några kraftigt downsizade eller på annat sätt innovativa, konventionella bilar kommer vi nog att få vänta på tills hybriderna "floppat" på liknande sätt som Collin o Co skriver att etanolboomen gjort.
På detta sätt har fossilindustrin köpt sig värdefull tid.