AD #2292 – Mass Market Cars Headed for Extinction? New Efficient Engine Under Development, Final Model 3 Thoughts

On today’s show… Toyota’s design chief says mass market cars will be eliminated in the future… Ricardo develops an engine with more thermal efficiency than the Prius… and we’ve got more feedback from Sandy Munro about the Tesla Model 3. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

REDUCING THE MASS
Autonomy and ride sharing have the potential to completely change how people use and own cars. And Toyota’s new design chief has an interesting prediction for the future. Reuters reports that Simon Humphries believes there won’t be a need for mass market cars because most vehicles will shift towards electric shuttle pods, like its e-Palette concept, which will eliminate the need for people to drive themselves around. While that doesn’t sound very appealing, Humphries also predicts that performance cars could still survive for those of us who like to drive. But what do you think, can you see mass market cars being eliminated in the future?

SPLIT-CYCLE, DUAL-FUEL ENGINE
We were recently told the most thermally efficient gas engine you can get today is in the Toyota Prius at 41%. Meaning that if the fuel coming in has 100% thermal energy, the Prius transforms 41% into useful work energy. The remaining 59% is mostly lost as waste heat. The best diesel engines are somewhere in the range of 45%. But CryoPower is a new kind of split-cycle, dual-fuel diesel engine in development that could go as high as 60% thermal efficiency. As Simon Brewster, CEO of Dolphin N2, the company that was formed by supplier Ricardo to further develop the engine, tells Autoline, split-cycle takes the normal 4-strokes and splits it between two cylinders. The suck/squeeze happens in the compression cylinder, while the bang/blow takes place in the combustion cylinder. So, air comes into the engine and is compressed in the compression cylinder, it’s then cooled with a shot of liquid nitrogen. From there it travels into a heat exchanger, before it’s drawn into the combustion cylinder. Not only is the liquid nitrogen used as a coolant, but it also supplements some of the diesel fuel. Then the whole mixture is combusted and sent out through the heat exchanger where it gives some of its heat energy, which would normally be wasted, back to the cooled air mixture before the exhaust hits the turbocharger. Dolphin N2 says the engine has demonstrated the potential to reduce fuel cost by 20% and fuel usage by 30% compared to today’s heavy-duty diesel engines. Meaning, you’ll likely never see an engine like this in your car. But it makes a whole lot of sense for long-haul trucks, where a dual-fuel system would not be as big of a deal. The engine also drastically reduces soot and NOx emissions, one of the biggest complaints with diesel engines these days. Dolphin N2 is currently working to develop the engine, but hopes to get further investment to take it to the next stages.

And speaking of engines, we’ll take a look at the new 48V mild hybrid system in the Ram 1500, right after this.

BENEFITS OF RAM’S 48-VOLT HYBRID SYSTEM
The 2019 Ram 1500 is available with a number of new features but one of the most surprising additions is its 48V mild-hybrid. On Autoline This Week, Jim Morrison, the head of the Ram brand discussed the benefits of the new system.

(Clip from ATW #2207 can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)

For more about the all-new Ram, you can watch that entire show right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.

Coming up next, more feedback from Munro & Associates about its look into the Tesla Model 3.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON TESLA’S MODEL 3
All week long we’ve been showing you the latest that Munro & Associates has found in its benchmarking study on Tesla’s Model 3. And here’s the final installment.

(Clip with Sandy Munro can only be viewed in the video version of today’s show.)

We hope you’ve enjoyed this look into Tesla’s Model 3. The entire video will be available later to watch on our YouTube channel. And when Munro and Associates finishes its complete teardown of the car we’ll let you know what they found.

But that wraps up today’s report, thanks for watching and have a great weekend.