Hydrogen fuel cells: yes or no?

Whose voice should we listen to: the lone voice in the wilderness or vehicle makers preparing to peddle their wares in years to come?

Volvo to launch three-cylinder in 2017

 Volvo is set to launch a 1.5-litre three-cylinder gasoline engine in 2017 using components from its 2-litre four-cylinder unit.

Ricardo to aid Tenneco with DPF support

Ricardo has been selected by Tenneco (Suzhou) Emission Systems Co. Ltd.  to provide diesel particulate filter (DPF) control software and development support.

Ricardo is a leading developer of next-generation fuel-efficient and clean technologies, and is no stranger to working within the Chinese market and has a well-equipped engineering facility and team in Shanghai.

Warwick University wins auto industry Hub

The new Hub location of the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) will be at the University of Warwick, site also of the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and its chairman Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya.

 APC supports a 10-year, £1 billion industry and government commitment to the development of low carbon propulsion systems.

Renault to supply light CV to Fiat from 2016

Renault and Fiat have signed an agreement whereby Renault will supply Fiat with a light commercial vehicle based on a Renault platform.

The styling of the Fiat vehicle will be developed by Fiat and will feature unique and distinctive elements on the model, branded Fiat Professional.

Audi revives UK development – 30 years later

Audi has revived a concept developed by GKN over 30 years ago – namely glass-fibre reinforced polymer springs for vehicles.

Audi’s new, lightweight suspension coil springs are made of glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP), and will appear in an executive class Audi model before the end of the year. GKN tried to introduce GFRP leaf springs in light trucks in the 1980s.

Torotrak pioneers traction fluid R&D rig

A company developing traction drive infinitely variable transmissions (IVT) has developed what it claims is the world’s only traction fluid testing rig.

Even the most innovative traction drive transmission for passenger car and commercial road vehicle application is effectively useless – a laboratory toy – without a “perfect” traction fluid to ensure top-class performance and long-term durability.

Dana set to commercialise truck CVTs

Industry insiders are awaiting the next stage in the development of the NuVinci continuously variable planetary (CVP) transmission developed by Fallbrook Technologies Inc. of Cedar Park, Texas.

Developed originally for cycles, the company claims the transmission has applications in passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and certain off-highway duties.

Navistar putting MWM up for sale?

According to US news agency Bloomberg, heavy duty truck maker Navistar Inc. is exploring its options for MWM, its South American truck-engine business. One option may be to sell the unit.

Last May, this newsletter posed the question: Navistar: has it too many engine plants? Clearly the issue of Navistar International’s engine overcapacity, coupled with a growing closeness to Cummins Inc., suggests the topic of conversation in Navistar’s board room has stretched beyond the fate of its three engine plants in the US.

Wider market seen for Cummins V8 CGI diesel

Cummins Inc. is developing a version of the V8 Turbo Diesel for commercial vehicle customers and this could widen the application of the new diesel beyond the first application which is Nissan’s next-generation Titan pick-up truck.

To accommodate this, Cummins has said that its ‘historic’ Columbus Engine Plant (CEP) is being readied to build the new Cummins 5-litre V8 Turbo Diesel for Nissan's next-generation Titan, and will require additional personnel to fulfil the programme, though at this stage Cummins HR department is not revealing numbers.

"This is an exciting announcement for our Cummins team," said Tom Linebarger, chairman and chief executive officer of Cummins Inc. "We are bringing our innovation and latest technology in engines and after-treatment products to a new segment of customers. Importantly, this will help us grow our own business as well as allow us to help an important new partner, Nissan, succeed in the market."

CGI gasoline engine on schedule

Production will begin in the second half of this year of the world’s first production gasoline engine with a compacted graphite iron (CGI) cylinder block.

This has been confirmed by Sintercast in its latest statement which notes that with increasing contributions from all automotive engine sectors, it has posted record annualised series production of 1.65 million engine equivalents in the second quarter of 2013.  

The production surpasses the previous record of 1.6 million engine equivalents set in the first quarter of 2012 and represents an increase of more than 35% since the end of 2012.  

GM and Nissan unite in van deal

General Motors and Nissan Motor Company are to be reunited once more in a van project as Nissan aims to supply its compact NV300 to ‘The General’ as a Chevrolet-branded vehicle.

It will be recalled that some years ago, Nissan’s operations in Barcelona manufactured some versions of GM’s European van, marketed as the Opel and Vauxhall Vivaro. Plant managers from Vauxhall’s plant in Luton, UK visited the plant from time to time to study Nissan’s methods of manufacture.

Now the two manufacturers will join forces for the first time for a vehicle of this type in North America.

Truck turbine pioneer dies

Noel Penny, best known the world over for his pioneering work in the development of truck gas turbine engines, died last Friday at the age of 87.

Penny most notably received recognition as managing director of Leyland Gas Turbines Ltd (LGT); it developed the two-shaft gas turbine engine with regenerative heat exchangers between 1968 and 1974. Prototype vehicles were used by several oil companies for route proving and demonstration.

In the 1960s and 1970s, companies such as Chrysler, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, MAN and Mercedes-Benz were all working to develop gas turbine engines for passenger cars and trucks. The concept proved unsuccessful, largely because of its high fuel economy. It was unable to challenge the specific fuel economy of a diesel.  More recently, Volvo has devoted some development effort to gas turbines for trucks.

Bridgend to build 1.5-litre EcoBoost

Ford has named its Bridgend Engine Plant as a further location to source its new 1.5-litre four-cylinder EcoBoost gasoline engine.

In parallel with the news, Ford has announced a £24 million investment in the facility, £12 million of which will be provided by the Welsh Government in the form of a ‘support package’.

The investment will bring valuable work to machine tool companies and equipment suppliers. Ford adds that the investment will also ‘help safeguard and create high-quality production and engineering jobs in Wales’.

The challenges posed for JLR’s Hotfire

Design and manufacturing engineers at JaguarLandRover (JLR) now have their own benchmark engine in the form of the Ti 240 four-cylinder gasoline engine they have inserted into the Jaguar XF and XJ models.

Already installed in the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Freelander, the company has a quarter of four-cylinder gasoline applications.

When it comes to ‘easing’ their own Hotfire gasoline and diesel engines to be manufactured at the new state-of-the-art i54 complex adjacent to the M54 Motorway, the challenge for JLR engineers will not be so much on the installation of the new engines in vehicles, but the Hotfire engines themselves.

Jaguar to double sales in three years

Jaguar will double its annual sales to a six-figure total within the next two or three years as a result of the new powertrains, body variants and drive systems it has introduced in the past 12 months, according global brand director Adrian Hallmark.

The company now offers four-wheel-drive versions of the XF and XJ saloons in markets prone to bad winters or plagued by poor roads; has added a Sportbrake (estate) version of the XF in Europe; and has introduced a 2.0-litre engine to avoid China's steep taxes on larger engines, plus supercharged 3-litre V6s which bring down the average CO2 emissions of the range and help to offset declining buyer interest in V8s.

Both Jaguar and Land Rover import these 2-litre EcoBoost engines from Ford’s engine plant in Valencia – see previous story. The engines are customised to JLR’s specification.

Ford tops Polk charts

Sales of the Ford Focus totalled 1,020,410 in 2012 according to Polk global market registration data making it the world’s best-selling vehicle overall.

Polk also confirmed the Ford Fiesta as the best-selling sub-compact car globally with registrations of 723,130 in 2012.

The Ford Fiesta and Focus are the UK’s one and two best-sellers providing the foundation for Ford’s UK car sales leadership which the company claims it has held for 36 consecutive years.

World's first CGI gasoline engine

The world’s first high-volume gasoline engine with a compacted graphite iron (CGI) cylinder block will be launched within 12 months.

The new engine will be the world’s first highest-volume CGI engine. It will also establish a new benchmark for packaging, size, performance and refinement.

SinterCast, which develops and produces specialised process control technology that enables production of high-quality CGI material, has confirmed what many in the powertrain industry have suspected for some time – that a major OEM is about to launch a gasoline engine with a CGI cylinder block.

Ford nears break with Escobedo

Ford is nearing the point when it will launch production of F-650 and F-750 medium commercial vehicles at its Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake.

In December 2011, Ford Motor Company announced plans to save 1,400 jobs by investing $128 million at its plant in Avon Lake, west of Cleveland and close to Lake Erie, to convert production of its E-Series van line to commercial trucks then made in Mexico. Executives said production would be transferred in 2014.

At the time, Jim Tetreault, vice president of Ford’s North American manufacturing operations and a former plant manager in Avon Lake, said the plan would provide steady work for a plant that previously had faced many downturns.

Hotfire engine plant set for a benchmark?

Will JaguarLandRover’s (JLR) new engine plant in Wolverhampton, UK, establish an industry benchmark? That is the question many are asking as work gathers pace to bring this unique plant to the first stage of fruition.

Ratan Tata, Tata Motor’s supremo will hope so. He will expect it to be ‘best-in-class’ when he comes to tour the plant in the final stages of shake-down as production gradually ramps up.

At the Geneva Motor Show, executives announced JLR would add a further £155million to its original investment commitment of £355million making it a genuine £500million plant