In the first issue of United Life magazine, we revealed more about the pseudo-adiabatic engine from Slovak manufacturer RTU Europe. This time, we will also look at other alternative eco-friendly engines that could eventually replace current combustion units.
Electric motors and hybrids
Electric cars or those with hybrid solutions are experiencing their biggest boom in recent months. Electric motors are not new in professional practice and their use in vehicles is not exceptional, but they have only now entered the environment of commercially available cars. Car manufacturers place great trust in electric motors and hybrid solutions and invest billions of euros annually just to improve them. The pioneer in hybrid engines is the Japanese Toyota, but BMW also makes a significant contribution to the development of this ecological trend with its "i" model line.
Electric motors have several advantages compared to combustion engines. The first is, of course, that they operate solely on electrical energy. No liquid, gaseous or solid fuel is required, which also brings with it a slightly higher level of safety, reducing the risk of explosion and fire. In addition, electric motors can operate without loss of efficiency at speeds that are at the limit or even far beyond the limit for today's combustion engines. In addition, the torque curve is available at virtually any time without the need to change gears. This is why there are no clutches or gears in electric cars.
The main problem with current electric vehicles is their high energy requirements and the inability of manufacturers to produce a battery that can handle this requirement. Electric cars can travel a relatively short distance on a single charge. This is why electric motors are more often found in smaller and lighter cars such as the Citroën Zero, which are designed for driving in cities.
However, we have also seen progress in this direction. The Chevrolet Volt brought the principle of electric energy recovery to the world of electromobility, thanks to which the range is extended to up to 600 kilometers. This is a value with which it can compete with most conventional cars. The Chevrolet only takes 4 hours to charge, and it needs to be plugged into a conventional 230 V socket. The American Tesla Model S has a slightly shorter range, but on a single charge without recuperation. It can travel up to 426 kilometers on one 85 kWh battery. Manufacturers are solving the high cost of equipping a vehicle with sufficient energy storage in various ways, in addition to recuperation, for example with hydrogen…
Hydrogen propulsion in two ways
It seems as if the trend of electric motors has overshadowed the not-so-distant popularity of hydrogen propulsion. However, this is not entirely true, because hydrogen propulsion could represent a sustainable and ecological concept. At the last Frankfurt Motor Show, Hyundai showed the hydrogen ix35. At first glance, this large SUV looks like any other, only after starting it does not make the typical sound of a combustion engine. The car is "fueled" with pure hydrogen, which then produces electricity through a fuel cell. This recharges the battery, which powers a standard car electric motor. Hyundai plans to produce a thousand units of the hydrogen-electric ix35 by 2015 and up to 10 times more after 2015. It is at that time that the price of the car should reach acceptable levels. We have also encountered similar hydrogen propulsion at Honda, General Motors, Daimler and even BMW, which several years ago demonstrated the BMW Hydrogen 7 as part of the BMW Clean Energy project. The older generation of the 7 Series sedan was equipped with an engine capable of running on hydrogen, which produced electricity. However, today, the development of this technology is not widely expected, the future lies with the BMW-i sub-brand and its electric motors.
However, hydrogen as a basis for off-road generation of electricity is not a typical concept of hydrogen propulsion. If it was written above that electric motors did not overshadow hydrogen, because it can be a part of them, this will not apply now. Pure hydrogen propulsion is almost passé today. Having high-pressure containers with liquid hydrogen supercooled to -253°C with explosive potential in a car is unacceptable neither for car manufacturers nor for car manufacturers nor for customers. Hydrogen propulsion is based on a not very complicated concept, which produces water vapor as emissions. Thanks to this, it is quite environmentally friendly.
Air drive from Citroën
"What did Citroën present in Frankfurt? A car that runs on air? Unbelievable!" say experts and lay observers. The second prototype of the Hybrid Air drive has received great marketing and the public perceives it as "something capable of running on air". However, this is not true, even though air plays a significant role in the entire drive process.
The prototype of the Citroën Cactus with Hybrid Air drive is equipped with an economical 3-cylinder engine and air tanks. These are a storage for compressed air, which is supplied by suction using recovered energy. When there is sufficient pressure in the air tank, it can literally help the combustion engine and reduce its energy requirements. This means that the energy gained while driving by the combustion engine is converted into pressure capable of moving the car a little further or a little faster. This helps save fuel, the amount of emissions and, of course, the driver's financial budget.
Eco-efficiency at the expense of emotion
What does the future of car propulsion look like? Even today, in the age of cutting-edge technology, it is not at all clear. The commercial automotive industry will most likely switch to electric motors over the next few decades, but developments in the field of power supply for these motors will continue. Hydrogen, compressed air, highly efficient recuperation, all of these are a fraction of what the still not entirely clear future offers us. However, what we can predict with great certainty is the gradual disappearance of the combustion engines that are so popular today or their relegation to a marginal position. Are we living in the last decades of honest, powerful, noisy cars?