Fuel efficiency

Back in 2012, Gizmag looked at LiquidPiston’s X2 rotary engine and now the company is back with the 70 cc X Mini engine, which LiquidPiston’s President and Co-Founder, Dr Alexander Shkolnik unveiled on Wednesday at the SAE International/JSAE 2014 Small Engine Technology Conference in Pisa, Italy.

A few days after Peugeot weighed in with its latest eco-friendly hybrid concept, French countryman Renault followed suit. Its all-new EOLAB Concept slashes fuel consumption in half when compared to the already efficient Peugeot 208 Hybrid 2L, requiring just 1 liter for 100 km (235 mpg) of driving .

GE is looking to a new generation of carbon-fiber composites to make the fan blades for its GE9X jet engine. That engine is being developed for the Boeing 777X passenger airplanes set to enter service in 2020 and the new blades promise to provide larger, lighter engines with greater fuel efficiency.

The MPG Marathon, now in its fourth year, aims to demonstrate how fuel-efficient cars, route planning technology and eco-friendly driving skills can help to manage the rising cost of fuel. This year, electric vehicles will take part for the first time in its history.

In 1936, Mercedes-Benz became the first company in the world to launch a diesel passenger car – the 260D. Over the years, diesel automobiles became renowned for their efficiency and fuel economy. Now, the manufacturer is building on that success with the introduction of high-tech steel pistons.

Five years ago, we first heard about a diesel engine that had been modified to run on an unlikely-sounding mixture of diesel and gasoline. Now, its creators have installed another diesel/gas engine in a 2009 Saturn.

The quest for ever-greater fuel efficiency is driving auto manufacturers to extreme lengths to reduce the weight of their vehicles. In its search for "enlightenment," Audi has announced it will introduce glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) springs in its vehicles before the end of the year.

Researchers at MIT have developed a smart curved surface that can morph at will to reduce drag, generating a series of small, evenly spaced dimples that make it resemble the outside of a golf ball.

How many gears are too many for the average commuter vehicle? If you’re pulling a load of cattle across Saskatchewan, then a semi-tractor unit with nine gears should suffice. But if you’re Volkswagen, then the magic number for your upcoming models is in fact 10.

Toyota has announced the development of two hyper-fuel-efficient small-displacement petrol Atkinson cycle engines: a three-cylinder 1.0-liter and four-cylinder 1.3-liter which will be introduced across the range from next year. The smaller engine will deliver 78 mpg (US) in the Toyota Aygo.

If you think that you've been seeing some funny-looking airliners in the past couple of months, you're not imagining things. On February 18th, a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 made the world's first commercial flight by an aircraft equipped with fuel-saving Split Scimitar Winglets.

SeaChange Group, a US-based start-up, has been awarded a patent for an eco-hybrid fuel technology shown to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas, NOx and particulate matter when compared to ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel at an equivalent power output.