Would you believe we currently have the technology to make a gasoline-based engine perform with the efficiency of a diesel?  Technically it’s true and its done with by injecting ethanol directly into gas engines.  The problem, according to Urse Honda of Bridgeport, WV is that ethanol-based fuel isn’t consistently available to be used.

The science behind the process

Ethanol is not a powerful as gasoline. Ethanol’s energy density is roughly 66 percent that of gasoline.  On the opposite side of the ­ledger, ethanol has an octane rating of 100, versus 85 to 94 for gasoline.  Higher octane ratings allow higher, and more efficient compression ratios. And when ethanol changes from ­liquid to gas on the way to combustion, it absorbs 2.6 times more heat than gasoline, a highly beneficial cooling effect. And, using ethanol in conjunction with gasoline in internal gasoline engines has some rich history behind it.

The history

During World War II, BMW and Daimler-Benz sprayed methanol and water mixtures into their supercharged aircraft engines to prevent detonation. In the U.S., GM applied a similar technology in its 1951 LeSabre dream car, which was powered by a supercharged V-8. That paved the way for the 1962 Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire, the world’s first turbocharged production car, which used a mix of  water, methanol, and rust inhibitor to keep detonation under control.

EBS Systems leads the way

Today, the most sensible approach for is to use technology now in hand to achieve significant efficiency gains. The tech? Gasoline, E85, and direct fuel injection. Ethanol Boosting Systems (EBS) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has E85-fueled engines under test that deliver diesel-like  efficiency—at least 30-percent better than a typical gas engine.

EBS uses aggressive turbocharging, a 12.0:1 or higher compression ratio, and about half the normal piston displacement. The trick is that they adds a second complete fuel system that enables an engine to run on port-injected gas during cruising and direct-injected E85 only during full-load conditions to spare its consumption.

Heavy-duty pickups are the first candidates for this technology. EBS pitches their ethanol-based systems as diesel busters capable of delivering 600 or more pound-feet of torque at low rpm from a 3.0-liter engine. Assuming that manufacturers agree with these ethanol boosters, the dual-fuel strategy could be handy for meeting the 35.5-mpg CAFE standard for 2016.