It’s called the EBDI – Extreme Boost Direct Injection – and it may be the “little engine that could” revolutionize the automotive world to produce cars that get drastically improved fuel mileage while optimizing the higher octane properties of ethanol.
The engine was developed by Ricardo, Inc., and it was on display for automotive mechanics and technicians at the 2012 Congress of Automotive Service and Repair last week in New Orleans. Attendees were able to see the engine in model form and in a GMC Sierra testbed. Ricardo representatives, including Chris Talware (left) and Dr. Matti Vint, were on hand to talk with those at the event and participate in live broadcasts of the Bobby Likis Car Clinic Network from the trade show floor.
Vint says they designed the engine to run efficiently on straight gasoline up to 85% ethanol. “We got good savings with both E-0 as well as E-85, so we designed engines to be flex fuel capable,” said Vint, explaining how they used a systems approach that adjusted a number of variables to increase the “sweet spot” area of the engine.
“The net result is we’ve gotten equivalent performance of a 6.7 liter diesel engine that is in the Sierra truck with a 3.2 liter gasoline engine,” said Talware. That enables what they call “extreme downsizing” that allows it to be scalable to perform in a variety of applications. “The same technology could be applied to a tourist size vehicle, with a 1.4 liter engine,” said Vint. It’s also scalable in terms of market, whether it’s agricultural, light duty trucks or passenger vehicles.
Listen to an interview with Talware and Vint here: Ricardo's Chris Talware and Matti Vint
Watch Dr. Vint explain more about the engine and how it optimizes ethanol below.