March 7, 2006 The Scuderi Group is an engine development company currently building an Air-Hybrid Engine which it claims will be to be the world's most fuel efficient internal combustion engine. Currently in production at Southwest Research in San Antonio, Texas, it is claimed that the Scuderi Air-Hybrid Engine will allow diesel and gasoline automobiles, commercial vehicles and other applications powered by internal combustion engines to be 60 percent fuel efficient (compared to today's 33 percent), reduce toxic emissions by 80 percent, while making it easier and less expensive to incorporate the technology into today's automobile manufacturing process. Designs for the air-hybrid engine will be on display at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) World Congress in Detroit next month.
"Consumers are demanding better fuel efficiency in their vehicles and less dependence on foreign oil. And we believe the investment community has identified our technology as being poised to meet this demand, especially as the automobile industry struggles to increase the value of their products," said Sal Scuderi, president of the Scuderi Group.
The Scuderi Technology can be applied to any piston engine, from very small gasoline powered lawn mowers engines to very large diesel powered train engines. The technology is patented worldwide with six patents issued and several pending in over 45 countries. The Scuderi Group plans to license the technology to qualified engine manufacturers.
The Scuderi Group includes experts in fluid and thermodynamics, engine technology, patent and commercial law, licensing, government relations, business management and finance. The technology is based on the research and inventions of the late Carmelo Scuderi (1925-2002) who spent over 40 years inventing, developing and commercializing new technology. He is best known in the engineering profession for his oil-less compressor technology, which changed the method used by the refrigeration and air-conditioning market to recycle ozone-depleting refrigerant chemicals.
The Scuderi Group has received over US$8 million in funding from numerous private investors since kicking off its official fundraising campaign last year. The engine has also reached the attention of the U.S. government, which recently awarded The Scuderi Group US$1.2 million in federal funding to further the development of its engine. Led by U.S. Rep. John W. Olver (D-MA), the grant is part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill passed by Congress.