The automobiles industry is one of the biggest industries in the world, and as many other industries, automobile manufacturers are being challenged economically. Moreover, the industry is facing new challenges to satisfy the new rules Obama administration issued in 2012. Automakers now are required to improve the gas mileage to about the double by 2025.

Car-makers are approaching the challenge from different angles. Most cars nowadays are lighter, smaller, and more aerodynamic which are big improvements in the use of building materials. However, the big improvements are in the engines. All new cars running on gas are using turbo chargers; some care companies started to make hybrid engines; some others are developing high performance rotary engines for cars.

Hybrid Engines:

Hybrid-Electric Engine is a new technology used to improve fuel efficiency and performance in cars. Vehicles use this technology are called Hybrid-Electric Vehicles or (HEVs). This kind of vehicles is designed to a gasoline engine combined with an electric motor. Based on the external conditions, the car computer operates both the engine and the motor on different ratios to obtain a better performance and high fuel efficiency.

Features of HEVs:

–         Regenerative Breaking. The motor can apply resistance on the wheels to slow the car down. In return, the energy transferred form the wheels to the motor is converted into electricity to charge the battery.

–         Electric Motor Drive/ Assist. Accelerating, passing, and hill climbing is easier in HEVs since the motor provide more power to add on the power from the gasoline engine. In some cars, the electric motor can run the car by itself when driving with low speed.

–         Automatic Start/shutoff. HEVs has the ability to shut itself off when stopping and starts again when moving to minimize wasted energy.

Rotary Engine:

The rotary engine was invented in 1957 by the German Felix Wankel. Even though the idea of the Rotary Engine is very old, using it in cars is very new. The Rotary Engine is smaller than any traditional combustion engine, has less components, much lighter, and more fuel efficient than any gasoline engine. This engine is so powerful that it can run a racing car on track with two combustion chambers only.

This is a video to simplify understanding of the Rotary Engine main components and how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BCgl2uumlI