Chrysler and the US Department of Energy has joined forces to explore the possibility of producing cars propelled by engines that runs on diesel and gasoline. This engine is expected to increase the car’s fuel-efficiency to significant levels.
Car buyers have their own criteria for selecting the vehicle that they would want to purchase. There are those who want to buy luxurious vehicles while others prefer to stick to models that offer greater safety. Besides this, many car finders are also after for cars that possess impressive fuel economy brought about by the continuous increase on the prices of gasoline. With this prospect in mind, new car finders who want fuel-efficient vehicles would either purchase hybrid models or those with engines that are powered by cheaper fuels. However, most of them would prefer hybrid cars due to the tax cuts and better auto financingarrangements offered by the government and the dealerships.
To further address the issue of rising costs of gasoline, Chrysler currently works with the federal government’s Department of Energy (DOE) to provide car buyers with a new vehicle option that is expected to provide better fuel-economy. Their particular project is to develop cars with a new engine concept to maximize fuel efficiency.
The Department of Energy has previously known that Chrysler is exploring the options of creating a vehicle engine that would use both gasoline and diesel. Due to this, the DOE has decided to cooperate with Chrysler. Their cooperation provided the budget that would be used in developing the engine in an amount of $30 million. Chrysler and its partners would invest $15.5 million for this while the remaining $14.5 million will come from the DOE.
According to reports, the diesel and gasoline tandem would provide a 25% increase in fuel efficiency on the vehicle. As of now, Chrysler is making use of its 2.4liter twin-turbocharged four-cylinder engine for this. The mpg rating of this engine is then compared to Chrysler’s 4.0liter V6 engine installed on the company’s minivan which has a similar power level with the four-cylinder engine.
What makes this engine unique is that it uses diesel and gasoline simultaneously. The engine has three fuel injectors per cylinder wherein two of these will use gasoline while the other one would be using diesel. The diesel would enable the engine to run at a higher compression ration thereby improving fuel economy. However, this engine needs two turbochargers intended for both high pressure and low pressure.
This will also use other technologies in order to save more fuel. Among the most probable technologies that would be used are the accessories that will enable the engine’s heat to power different accessories installed on the vehicle, fuel shut-offs, and automatic starting and stopping technologies. In addition to this, the vehicle needs two separate fuel tanks to store gasoline and diesel. The project is expected to run by 2013 and expects to attain positive results shortly.
