Green Car Congress

MAY 1, 2009

A study by engineers from Mahle Powertrain Ltd and BP found strong synergy between spark ignition (SI) engine downsizing and fuel containing low-to-moderate amounts of alcohol, including ethanol and butanol. Among their findings was that for gasoline fuels, aggressively downsizing the engine and adopting homogeneous direct fuel injection enabled an improvement in fuel consumption of ~17% over the New European Drive Cycle compared to a naturally aspirated PFI unit.

Alcohol Blend 174

Alcohol Blend 2009 Downsizing Engine 174

Green Car Congress

MARCH 27, 2020

compression ratio, extent of downsizing, etc.). The 10 blendstocks include a variety of alcohols, an olefin, a furan mixture, and a ketone, with the alcohols and olefin exhibiting the fewest barriers to commercial adoption.

2020 219

2020 Alcohol Blend Affordable Downsizing 219

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 25, 2015

The preflame reactions are a strong function of temperature, so evaporative cooling from the fuel can also play a significant role, which is particularly important for fuels containing alcohol. Knock and fuel octane rating are becoming increasingly important due to many powertrain design trends including downsizing, downspeeding, cylinder deactivation, and hybridization. … Alcohol and gasoline-alcohol blends also offer efficiency benefits independent of their octane value.

2015 182

2015 Engine GM Shelby 182