New Gas Saving Tech
Jul 23rd, 2008 by gmoran
Here’s the first in a series of blogs based on Steve Kichen’s piece for Forbes, “Automakers explore gas-saving technology”. New engine technologies have promised revolutionary ways to reduce or eliminate oil based fuels but now, we really need one to deliver. For today, let’s look at Ethenol Injection. Researchers at MIT claim that 30% more fuel efficiency can be achieved with turbocharged motors by injecting ethanol, methanol or E85 (85% methanol 15% gas) into the engine at times of higher demands for power. Several MIT researchers have formed Ethanol Boosting Systems and are testing with Ford. Whereas the average turbo installation costs manufacturers an additional $1,000, for Ethanol Boosting Systems they think it’s possible to get up to 330 hp and 360 foot pounds of torque from a 1.9 liter engine using regular-grade gas as the primary fuel. However, their system would run a total of $1,400 to beef up the engine and add a second fuel-injection system, plus a small (4- to 6-gallon) secondary fuel tank for the “boost fluid.”