Troy Start-up EcoMotors Could Bring 60% More Efficient ICE to Michigan

January 8th, 2011 by Susan Kraemer

Not every potentially game changing auto start-up is a radical departure from the traditional ICE power train that fed families for generations in the auto capital of the US.

In a move that could help extend the life of the traditional auto industry, a start-up in Troy, Michigan is working on refining the ICE engine, tapping heavy duty efficient diesel auto engineering experience from Volkswagen, Ford, and GM. They are tweaking normal engine development processes, not using advanced technologies or costly materials.

EcoMotors taps the brain of Peter Hofbauer, Volkswagen’s former head of powertrain development, and taps $23.5 million in round B funding from Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla. Khosla has said he thinks the improved power train will cost just a few hundred dollars more than standard ICE power trains.

Chief Technology Officer Hofbauer is considered the father of the modern high speed diesel at Volkswagon. He designed VW’s first diesel engine.

EcoMotors President John Colleti created the hugely successful SVT high performance program at Ford, and its CEO, Don Runkle, is a longtime GM engineer and executive. Together the leadership team has been responsible for the award of over 150 patents and managed more than 30 power train programs.

They are developing a simple and economical engine for production and licensing, that cuts the number of parts in half, and hope to achieve 50% greater fuel efficiency over standard diesel engines with their opposed piston/opposed cylinder diesel engine that is laid out horizontally instead of vertically.

The engine can be 30% lighter, and because the layout is laid out horizontally, it helps both to cancel out vibrations from the engine and to make the vehicle more aerodynamic.

The engine seems to be durable and some of the emissions targets have been met. The overall goal is to meet the 2010 Tier 2 Bin 5 Heavy Duty Truck standard.

While it can now meet the standards at specific RPM levels, they are working on meeting the standards across all RPM levels.

Susan Kraemer@Twitter

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About the Author

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, CSP-Today, PV-Insider , SmartGridUpdate, and GreenProphet. She has also been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.

Rif

Boxer engine (flat engine) has been used by Porsche in 911 model since forever.
john

Sounds interesting! Not as sexy as electric engines but any improvement to ICE’s is welcome.
Bob Wallace

I could be way off base here but I wonder about engine life with horizontal cylinders. It seems to me that the full weight of the piston would be lying on the bottom wall of the cylinder and rings which would lead to uneven and more rapid wear resulting in loss of compression.
- Geoff Henderson
  
  Yes that might be an issue. But BMW & VW have had horizontally opposed engines for years, and many stationary engines are laid out flat as well. Subaru, a very well respected car maker uses opposed design, and has now introduced a diesel into some of its range. I guess I’m thinking it is likely any bias generated by the different configuration has been considered and solved.
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