The modern combustion engine needs a revamp, and one company believes it has the answer in a 70-year-old abandoned design.
Current motors are based on a single-piston design, which has dominated the industry since the very first car was made 130 years ago - but they are fuel-hungry.
San Diego-based Achates Power claims that its revitalised a different World War 2-era design that is cheaper, smaller, lighter, and could be 30 per cent more fuel efficient.
Pictured is a graphic representation of three of the engine's opposed-piston cylinders. The blue gas is the injection of fuel and air, while the red gas is exhaust fumes. The engine, known as an 'opposed piston engine' would use an old design that dates back as far as the 1940s
The engine, known as an 'opposed piston engine' could be used alongside electric motors to power the car if it runs out of charge, but it could also power cars directly.
In the 1940s, engineers had designed a new engine design that was lighter and more powerful than conventional engines of the time.
The engines were used in some WW2 military vehicles, but users reported problems with their cleanliness and efficiency.
Now, Achates engineers have revived the old model after spending a decade on hardware and computer control development to iron out the faults in the original design.
'This engine is simple to manufacture, has few parts and is less costly [than conventional engines],' President and CEO of Achates power David Johnson told Wired.
Mass-producing these engines would be straightforward as they can be built using equipment in existing factories.
The opposed piston engine (pictured) could be used alongside electric motors to power the car if it runs out of charge, but could also power cars directly
The firm has previously been awarded government backing for its innovative work with engines, receiving over £7 million ($9 million) from the US department of energy earlier this year.
But how are its engines different to conventional motors?
Most automotive engines use a four-stroke reciprocating design.
This design has been used since the first ever car - Carl Benz's 1885 single cylinder, one horsepower motor - through to the latest high-performance sports cars.
The engines work through a single piston within a cylinder.
This piston first draws air into the cylinder, and then adds fuel during an 'intake stroke'.
The engines were used in some WW2 military vehicles, but users reported problems with cleanliness and efficiency. Achates's new model (pictured) eliminates the problems originally reported with the design
The opposed piston engine works using two pistons in each cylinder instead of one. Power is generated when the fuel and air mixture is ignited, driving the two pistons apart. Image: one of the two-piston cylinders is injected with fuel as exhaust fumes are pushed out of the engine
Power is generated in Achates's engine when the fuel and air mixture is ignited, driving the two pistons apart (pictured)
The piston then rapidly compresses the fuel and air together and a spark is added, igniting the mixture and producing a jet of force that pushes the piston during the 'power stroke'.
The energy from this power stroke is used to move the car.
The cylinder then rises during the 'exhaust stroke' as spent gases left over from the combustion are expelled from the engine.
Without the labyrinth of valves and camshafts of a conventional engine, the opposed piston engine is a much simpler and smoother design. Image: the two-piston cylinders that drive the engine's power
This engine cycle repeats thousand of times per minute.
This engine design has been trusted by car manufacturers for over one hundred years.
But Archates' design takes the car engine in a different direction.
Its opposed piston engine works using two pistons in each cylinder instead of one.
Power is generated when the fuel and air mixture is ignited, driving the two pistons apart.
'What's interesting is that this engine doesn't have any valves or valve-trains,' Achates's Vice President of Technology Development Fabeon Redon explains in an interview with Wired.
As the basic science and research behind the engine nears completion, the next step for the team is putting one into a working vehicle. Image: The opposed-piston engine in full flow, with blue air and fuel mixture combusting into red exhaust fumes
'Everything is basically contained within the cylinder.'
Without the labyrinth of valves and camshafts of a conventional engine, the opposed piston engine is a much simpler and smoother design.
As the basic science and research behind the engine nears completion, the next step for the team is putting one into a working vehicle.
The team predict it will take around four years before cars are developed using these engines, but a military truck could be developed sooner.
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