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HCCI


GM's HCCI engines now run from idle to 60 mph!

Since our first encounter with General Motors' HCCI (homogeneous charge compression ignition) engines in August 2007, the powertrain research engineers at the GM Tech Center in Warren, MI have continued plugging away at the technology, trying to turn it into a marketable reality. The basic premise of compression ignition is simple. Based on the Ideal gas law (PV=nRT), if you decrease the volume of a particular quantity of air, the temperature rises to the point where fuel will spontaneously combust. The hard part is controlling the pressure, ... Read more →

GM powertrain plans: high-tech, low weight Jeremy Korzeniewski

Click above for more early images of the production Chevy Volt It's no secret that we appreciate what General Motors has been able to do with just two-liters. The direct injected and turbocharged ...

Bosch CEO talks lithium ion batteries and diesels Sam Abuelsamid

In the wake of a new lithium ion battery joint venture, Bernd Bohr, CEO of Bosch is not concerned that automakers will try to keep battery production in house. In an interview with German magazine ...

GM HCCI engine can operate at idle Sam Abuelsamid

General Motors first showed off its prototype Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engines last summer in an Opel Vectra and a Saturn Aura. We had the opportunity to drive these vehicles at ...

GM to debut HCCI on Opel Insignia? Jeremy Korzeniewski

Click on the HCCI equipped Opel Vectra for a high-res gallery There are rumors floating around the interwebs today regarding the Opel Insignia being the first official product from General Motors ...

GM engineers speak up for installing MPG displays in every vehicle 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Photo by Marcin Wichary. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0. Live mileage updates are probably best known from the Prius dashboard, but the world's best-selling hybrid is not the only vehicle with a real-time MPG display. Whether its a detailed display like on the Prius, an "eco light" ...

VIDEO: GM's Paul Najt talks about HCCI engines 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Last summer we had the chance to meet up with GM powertrain researcher Paul Najt and drive GM's prototype HCCI engines. Homegeneous charge compression ignition engines basically take some of the technical concepts behind diesel engines and combine it with a gasoline engine. The result is a new ...

Most promising green technologies number six: HCCI 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click on the image to view high-res shots of the Mercedes F700 concept Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition, or HCCI, holds out a great deal of hope for green automotive enthusiasts. Mercedes-Benz has shown concept vehicles using the technology, which they refer to as DiesOtto, in their F700 ...

Daimler touting breakthrough in battery technology, increases R&D spending 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click on the image to view high-res shots of the Mercedes F700 concept As part of an annual meeting held in Berlin, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche says that the company will increase its R&D spending to $21 billion for the year 2010. A major part of those expenses will go towards alternative ...

2/4SIGHT engine concept switches between 2 and 4 stroke operation 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Until electric cars and their associated technologies (motors, batteries, controllers etc.) become mainstream, the internal combustion engine will need to be further refined in order to meet upcoming fuel economy requirements and current emissions regulations -- while still producing the power that ...

Mercedes-Benz wins Safety and Technology award for DiesOtto 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

At their annual award ceremony, British magazine AutoCar singled out the Mercedes-Benz DiesOtto engine concept for recognition. The DiesOtto is a turbocharged homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine. It first appeared in the F700 concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. HCCI ...

Polaris MV800 ATV with Patriot engine uses multiple fuels 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

We've featured Orbital Corporation and their unique engine technologies before. It turns out that one of those technologies allows a four-stroke engine to run on multiple different fuels. Polaris, the manufacturer of snowmobiles, ATV's and Victory motorcycles is using this technology in their ...

GM's FYI Blog introduces HCCI technology 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

If you happen to listen to the AutoblogGreen podcast, you already know how we feel about the potential of HCCI engine technology. If you don't listen to our podcast, (first of all, why not?) you can learn about the new engine type in our entire category dedicated to HCCI. Being that this is a new ...

Frankfurt Preview: Video of the Mercedes F700 concept being polished 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

There's a video out of the Mercedes-Benz F700 concept being prepped for the Frankfurt Motor Show while Daimler's Thomas Weber is being interviewed. Unfortunately the audio is in German, but you can get an early glimpse of the big luxury sedan with the tiny turbocharged HCCI engine. Evidently it's ...

Video of HCCI test drive 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

We were there but we thought you might like to take a look at what Medialink saw at GM's coming out party for HCCI. The video includes some shots of the car driving around and interviews with the engineers. The idea behind HCCI is basically, kill the spark plug. It's not a new idea at all. I think ...

Autoblog Green Podcast #11 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

As we head toward the Frankfurt Motor show, AutoblogGreen Podcast #11 is filled with talk about what we'll see at the show. There've been lots of developments from European manufacturers, and we're eager to see those cars up close. Sam also got the chance to attend a GM Powertrain event at their ...

ABG Tech analysis and driving impression: GM's HCCI Engine 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Click on the HCCI equipped Opel Vectra for a high-res gallery At the General Motors Proving Ground in Milford, MI on Friday, the company provided their first public presentation of HCCI engines. Most of the major automakers, in addition to researchers at universities around the world have been ...

Mercedes will debut F700 with DiesOtto engine at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Mercedes is bringing the green to the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show with their new sedan concept car, the F700. Remember that DiesOtto engine that we told you about a while back? It's making its debut in this new luxury sedan. To refresh your memory, that engine produces 238hp and 295ft-lb. of ...

Mercedes-Benz introduces the DiesOtto - German for HCCI 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

The very first practical automobile was the 1886 Benz Motorwagen created in Stuttgart by Karl Benz. That first car was powered by a small gasoline fueled engine that ran on a four-stroke cycle developed by fellow German Karl Otto. Later another German, Rudolph Diesel, developed the compression ...

AutoblogGreen Q&A: Dr. Gary Smyth, director of powertrain research at GM 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

During the recent SAE World Congress in Detroit Dr. Gary Smyth participated in a panel on new generation drivetrains beyond 2015. Dr. Smyth had some interesting things to say about the internal combustion engines and where they are going so AutoblogGreen arranged to talk to him afterwards. Dr. Smyth ...

Chevy Volt could end up with radically different engine! 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

By now plenty of people have seen concept vehicles like the Chevy Volt and Ford HySeries Drive Edge. One of the biggest advantage of the series hybrid drivetrains in these machines is the flexibility they provide in choosing an auxiliary power unit. With the battery system providing the primary ...

Variable valve actuation and HCCI could yield 20% efficiency bump 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

Even with the inexorable move toward electrically driven cars in the next couple of decades, the internal combustion engine will remain with us for some time to come either as the primary powertrain on many vehicles or at least as an auxiliary power unit for series hybrid vehicles. Given that ...

Tweaking the vehicle computer for better mileage 2 years ago on Autoblog Green

I'm very much of the opinion that sophisticated computer engine controls and more precise hardware such as high-pressure fuel injectors are the key to short-term fuel-economy improvements in current gas engines. Other drastic measures such as small-displacement, turbocharged engines will require ...

HCCI sensor contract awarded to TIAX 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

News and developments on Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) technology doesn't seem to pop up very often, so you can imagine that our ears perk up every time we come across something new no matter how small. On Wednesday, technology development firm TIAX announced that it was awarded a ...

HCCI update: Prototype in 2008 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

A couple months ago, Bruno pointed AutoblogGreen readers to a New York Times article summarizing the current status of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engines, technology that attempts to take the best of both diesels and gasoline-fueled internal combustion engines. This Engineer ...

HCCI: Combining gasoline and diesel combustion 3 years ago on Autoblog Green

The New York Times has a nice summary on a form of combustion all major automakers are actively pursuing, called HCCI, short for homogenous charge compression ignition. HCCI was discovered quite some time ago through investigation of so-called "run-on", the continued running of an engine after the ...


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