Automotive Engineering - April 2022 - 19

ADVANCED PROPULSION FEATURE
Toyota and Yamaha collaborated on a hydrogen-fueled variant
of Toyota's 5.0L V8, which point the way for further hydrogen
combustion-engine projects.
Mahle's Jet Ignition
pre-chamber injector
have been in production or were being considered -
the rotary (Wankel) and opposed-piston layouts, for
example - have lost momentum. Most propulsion experts
expect that tightening R&D resources will virtually
guarantee the status quo.
" I think by 2030, everybody's talking about maybe
50 percent market share for EV but that clearly leaves
50 percent of the vehicle population still with some
kind of engine in it - that's a very significant portion, "
said Mick Winship, CTO at AVL North America. " We
won't see a significant 'stack' change in technology, I
believe. You'll see technologies iterate from where
they are today. "
Added Thomas Howell, AVL's Conventional
Powertrains Segment lead, " I think the fundamental
base modern engines are probably capable of achieving
what needs to be done for the future. There will be
development required to achieve the legislative targets. "
He added that some of the older platforms,
which are steadily being retired, will have to be retired
because they will not achieve the targets. "
That's not to say alternative ideas are no longer percolating.
There have been on-again, off-again reports
that Mazda, the dogged proponent of the Wankel,
would use the rotary as a range extender for its new
but battery-capacity-challenged MX-30 EV. As this
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
for use in a hydrogenfueled
diesel engine.
story was written, a U.S.-based Mazda official could not confirm that
the company would be taking the leap to once again fit the rotary
engine in a series-production vehicle (at least for the U.S. market). A
similar scenario played out with Mazda's innovative Skyactiv-X gasoline
compression-ignition I-4, which was released in Europe but has
yet to appear in any U.S.-specification Mazda.
The same is true of various opposed-piston engine designs, such
as that of Achates Power [https://www.sae.org/news/2021/03/achates-power-opposed-piston-two-stroke-engine]
which hold promise,
but have not made the final cut for production. Meanwhile automakers
are assiduously cutting back engine families in favor of
electrification investment. BMW announced the elimination of its
gasoline V12; light-duty diesels of all kinds are on a fast decline (in
2021, Ford quietly dropped its 3.0L Powerstroke diesel for the F-150
pickup). And in the truck- and SUV-obsessed U.S., OEMs have started
to reduce availability of V8s. Strong rumors indicated Stellantis
even is preparing a turbocharged I-6 to effectively replace the
vaunted " Hemi " V8.
In summer 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported IHS Markit forecast
data indicating new-engine launches for the year to be less than
10, and dropping " essentially to zero, " compared with 20 to 70 new
engines launching in prior years.
April 2022 19
FROM LEFT: YAMAHA; MAHLE

https://www.sae.org/news/2021/03/achates-power-opposed-piston-two-stroke-engine

Automotive Engineering - April 2022

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