While it’s under increasing pressure from hybrid, electric and other types of powertrain, the basic form of the current piston-driven, spark-ignition gasoline engine is likely to remain a key player in the automotive world for some time to come.

Why? Developing new engines is expensive, and developing alternative powerplants, such as fuel cells or electric vehicles is even more so. At the same time, although petroleum prices have fluctuated in recent years, many project stable prices through 2019 and beyond. The economic incentive for replacing gasoline may be waning, at least in the short term, balanced by uncertainty and the fear that prices may rise again.

This brand new research report examines trends, implications, and developments in spark-ignited, gasoline engines for light-duty vehicles, primarily passenger cars and light-duty trucks for personal use. It explores the current state of technology in detail, discusses the direction of future developments, examines the engine strategies for all the major OEMs, and profiles the most important SI engine component suppliers

Scope

Chapters 1 and 2 review the major market drivers, in particular high gasoline prices and new emissions regulations.

Chapter 3 outlines the basic physical challenges in creating fuel-efficient engines and how automakers could meet those challenges.

Chapter 4 details forced induction, or boosting

Chapter 5 discusses other engine technology advances besides boosting, including Displacement on Demand (DoD), Gasoline direct injection (GDI), and increasingly complex Valve Event Modulation, from Discrete Variable Cam Timing (DVCT) to fully Continuously Variable Valve Timing and Lift (CVVT&L)

Chapter 6 explores some of the more innovative ways completely new engine architectures are being built by start-ups.

Chapter 7 shows data, derived mainly for North America, how some technologies for improving fuel efficiency are being adopted.

Chapter 8 is an extensive survey of how individual automakers are growing their future engine technologies. Some are adopting DoD, others GTDI, while still others are relying on GDI and Valve Event Modulation.

Chapter 9 profiles some of the key suppliers of engine components in the industry.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2 Market – Drivers and Trends

Fuel Economy as a Regulation
Fuel, Engines, and System Regulation
Practical implications – mandates and test cycles
Fuels and alternative fuels
Customer Desires — Fuel Efficiency in Context
A Note About Units

Chapter 3: Gasoline SI engine basics

ICE Engines are inherently inefficient
Direct Drive and Variable Engine Loads
Pollution Control in the Engine vs. Fuel Economy
Fuel and Knock
Gasoline SI Engines for Hybrids

Chapter 4: Boosting

Superchargers
Exhaust Gas Turbochargers
Electrification
Business and Market Outlook

Chapter 5: Engine Technology Advances

Gasoline Direct Injection
Fuel Injectors
Lean Burn
Variable Event Modulation
SI Gasoline Valve Basics
Phasing, Timing, and Lift Management
Camless Actuation
Displacement on Demand by Deactivating Cylinders
Miller and Atkinson cycles
Advances in Spark plugs
Engine Management
Variable compression ratio engine

Chapter 6: Alternative Engine Architectures

Opposed Piston
Split-Cycle
Others

Chapter 7: Fuel Efficiency in ICE – Context and Progress

Past Developments Redirected?
Specific Technologies, Estimated Costs

Chapter 8: Major OEM Engine Strategies

Daimler/Mercedes Benz
General Motors
Ford
Chrysler
Honda
Toyota
Hyundai/Kia
Mazda
Nissan
Volkswagen Group
BMW
HEDGE and SwRI
The Future Beyond 2020

Chapter 9: Gasoline SI Engine Component Supplier Profiles

Aisin Seiki
Benteler
Borg Warner
Delphi Automotive LLC
Denso International
KSPG AG
Linamar
Mahle Engine Components
Mitsubishi Electric
Nemak
NGK Spark Plug
Robert Bosch
Schaeffler
TRW
Valeo

List of Tables

Table 5.1: Representative list of VCR technologies.

Table 6.1: Opposed Piston Start-ups

Table 6.2: Prominent Split-Cycle engine startups

Table 6.3: Example of miscellaneous, inventive engine designs.

Table 7.1: This table shows that the OECD countries are taking fuel economy improvement quite seriously, leading the global average.

Table 8.1: Mercedes Benz M270 engine specifications for as-installed in the A-Class line of vehicles. The M270 line of engines is intended for A Class, B Class, CLA, and C Class vehicles.

Table 8.2: Highlights of GM’s MY 2014 new SI gasoline engine offerings.

Table 8.3: Ford EcoBoost engines and cars it is offered on.

Table 8.4: Highlights for the near-future Honda VTEC TURBO engines, possibly as early as 2015.

Table 8.5: Hyundai engines and example vehicles

Table 8.6: Summary of most notable of Nissan’s advanced engines and their applications.

Table 8.7: Volkswagen Group’s major gasoline engine and variants for its strategy.

List of Figures

Figure 2.1: Fuel economy targets, normalized to US CAFE test cycles by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)

Figure 2.2: Normalized standards for various regulatory fuel economy requirements and CO2 emissions world, as developed by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) (ibid)

Figure 2.3: European Union initial limit curve governing 130 g/km CO2 emissions regulations.

Figure 2.4: Listing and timing of important worldwide criteria and GHG emissions regulations.

Figure 2.5: Cars are tested using fixed dynamometers on specific schedules on rolling, or chassis, dynamometers. Their emissions are measured over the cycles.

Figure 2.6: Examples of dynamometer-based test cycles used to perform emissions tests

Figure 2.7: The New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) combines an urban simulation repeated four times followed by a “highway” section, a test cycle previously defined as the EUDC.

Figure 2.8: Proposed worldwide, harmonized test cycle as of 2013.

Figure 2.9: Data from BP shows a steady rise in technically recoverable oil since 1980

Figure 2.10: The U. S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) reference case projects relatively stable gasoline prices, inflation adjusted, in its 2013 Short Term Energy Outlook.

Figure 2.11: Fuel economy concerns reflect the local price of gasoline, here shown worldwide as of 2010.

Figure 2.12: Fuel economy is most often measured as L/100 km, however the European Union is increasingly using g/km CO2 as a unit of fuel economy.

Figure 3.1: Data from the U. S. Department of Energy shows that engine losses eat up most energy from fuel, illustrating why making more efficient engines is so important

Figure 3.2: Knock is ignition ahead of the smooth flame front. Excessive knock can damage pistons and reduce life of components.

Figure 3.3: A typical gasoline SI ICE will have a fuel efficiency that varies with load (torque) and speed in RPM, as shown in this cartoon of a performance map.

Figure 4.1: The Twin Vortex Series from Eaton includes an four lobe rotor design with an advanced manufacturing process that reduces NVH over previous generations.

Figure 4.2: Schematic diagram of how exhaust gas turbochargers work, with a cartoon of the turbine/compressor device

Figure 4.3: This notional diagram illustrates the general characteristics of turbos based on their physical size.

Figure 4.4: A BorgWarner regulated 2-stage turbocharger uses two different sizes of turbines and compressors to combine the best of both small and large turbos, through a sophisticated control system.

Figure 4.5: Using vanes in a variable geometry turbo, Bosch Mahle regulates boost pressure to prevent overcharging the engine at higher engine speeds in its design of turbos used in Volkswagen gasoline and diesel engines

Figure 4.6: Turbocharger manufacturers have available a variety of proven designs to improve low-end response, lag, and increase peak power, but through increased complexity of the designs.

Figure 5.1: This is a picture of the Ford EcoBoost Gasoline Direct Injection system. Combustion chamber design.

Figure 5.2: The new(left) and old(right) piston crowns of the General Motor’s Gen5 V8 shows the considerable amount of engineering required to adapt an engine for GDI.

Figure 5.3: Cutaway of a typical solenoid fuel injector and how it operates.

Figure 5.4: By mapping the physical lift and timing of each valve over the two rotations of a crankshaft, engineers have developed a convenient way of understanding and communicating more complex forms of modifying valve lift and timing

Figure 5.:5 Adjusting the valve lift diagram by shifting (advancing or retarding), or phasing, the timing of intake or exhaust or both is one of the simplest methods to accomplish a level of variable valve timing.

Figure 5.6: Another variation on variable valve timing is to switch the profiles of the cams entirely to maximize a given quantity

Figure 5.7: Notional view of how Honda’s VTEC system switches between two, and only two, discrete intake valve profiles for an engine with two intake valves.

Figure 5.8: Continuously variable valve lift mechanisms are used to optimize matching the load to the right intake requirements.

Figure 5.9: A form of DVVL, the Fiat MultiAir, controls air through the intake valves instead of the throttle, with 5 specific modes

Figure 5.10: The ideal cycle for engine operation is shown in this diagram, with a V8 using only half its cylinders in cruise mode

Figure 5.11: New ACIS ignition system from Federal Mogul shows that advances in ignition systems may be required to achieve advanced combustion schemes, such as stratified charge and high levels of cooled EGR.

Figure 5.12: Computer controls provide engine makers with unprecedented ability to deliver efficient engines. Various OEMs use different sensor and logic configurations to gain an edge.

Figure 6.1: Pinnacle Engines opposed piston, valve sleeve engine is an example of how technology from the past is being updated to enhance fuel efficiency.

Figure 6.2: The Scuderi split-cycle concept uses twice as many cylinders in a 2-stroke cycle, separating the compression stroke in a separate cylinder from the power stroke.

Figure 7.1: Average new passenger light duty vehicle tested fuel economy by country and region.

Figure 7.2: 2013 vehicles that meet future CO2 targets, by projected sales, according to USA EPA figures.

Figure 7.3: Adjusted fuel economy trends in the USA fleet reflects both rising fuel prices and future uncertainty about those prices.

Fig 7.4: Using data from the 2011 publication ‘Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-duty Vehicles’, NRC of the National Acadamies, 2011 (NRC Report)

Figure 7.5: Certain technologies that the USA EPA track are improving in their penetration rates since 2007. Displacement-on-Demand and Boosting still remains low.
Figure 7.6: To put foreseeable