Scotty, do you feel the ICE has reached it’s limit in fuel mileage, power, ease of maintenance etc? It seems the engine has evolved to a point there is not much room for improvement (?)
That's what people were saying decades ago. If there is no more serious development of internal combustion engines it is only because of the ridiculous, ill-considered, forced push towards electrification.
Basically the new Nissan Kicks e-Power.
I think so, at the cost of reliability. You’d have to go back many years to find the most reliable Toyota’s and Honda’s, for instance, that could last 300, 400, 500+ thousand miles with minimal issues. They were also simpler (compared to modern vehicles), not as fuel efficient, relied mainly on port injection, fewer gear automatic transmissions (and offered more manual options), etc. It is getting harder and hard to meet ever stringent CAFE and emissions requirements with existing ICE technology.
I think we are approaching the limits, but I do think there are still a few tricks to be implemented before we can truly say there's nothing left to improve.
As @Daywalker mentioned, we are starting to see reliability suffer due to performance and MPG needs. When that happens, it is a tell tale sign that the potential for improvements without sacrifices is greatly reduced.
I'm curious to see where everything leads.
Well if Porsches bet is correct if they can make biofuel like they're drying and South America now that when it burns creates carbon dioxide and then that carbon dioxide is reused making the biofuel that would be most radical change of all and would spell the death of mass-produced electric cars
Sounds similar to what Formula 1 is trying to do by developing a synthetic fuel that'll work in both Formula 1 cars and consumer grade automobiles. Maybe this is the same as biofuels? I suppose that if they can get efficient and low cost hydrogen fuel developed, that would stave off the push for electric vehicles. Sounds like these ideas would be acceptable to the Green Energy proponents?
in terms of mass produced engine technology, I think we are getting close to the zenith but not quite there. It seems the trajectory is to make most parts of the car electronic. Like the water pump. Steering. AC.
And the biggest improvement will come when valve controls are electronic like FreeValve. It exists. But it is not mass produced.
What will be the biggest advancement across the board in ICE engines and cars, before 2035? What will be done to squeeze the last ounce of performance and efficiency out if ICE engines before the shift away from making new ICE engines?
All things considered, I think the ICE probably reached it's peak reliability at around 2005. Porsche got all the HP out of their air cooled engine, then went to water cooled and got even more. The sky is the limit on power but it seems like reliability is inversely proportional to power. Look at all the tiny little turbo charged engines of today. Lots of power but not much staying power.
I think the end of ICE will be societies quest for zero carbon emissions. Electric cars will be pushed more and more, and very few gas engines will be offered for sale.
Personally, I think they are moving too fast towards zero carbon emissions. However, the writing is on the wall and gas use (or any liquid fuel) will be dis-incentivized.
Will this happen in 10 years, 20 years or more, who knows? But it will happen if the powers that be insist on it, and right now they are insisting on it.
I don't think we'll see electric vehicles as mainstream for a long time. Just building the infrastructure will be a massive project that could cost trillions of dollars. But I kinda like the idea of an EV being able to power your house during a power outage. Just my opinion......
Yes, but only due to the Fed forcing electric cars on the population.
If you check out automakers future plans, they are shifting most of their research and development resources to electrification.
The 2021 Ford Mustang 5.0 made 460hp, and the 2022 Mustang 5.0 only makes 450hp due to increased emission regulations.
That is how it begins. Instead of making changes to maintain the HP rating, they opted to allow the emissions to reduce power output. It's cheaper and easier to do that.
That being said, if the fed froze or slightly reduced emission requirements, I think ICE engines would have another 10 years before they experienced a more 'natural peak' in technological gains.
Gasoline is an amazing fuel, and additional gains were definitely possible.
The problem is the regulation.
