Leading German automotive aftermarket manufacturer Bosch claims that it has developed innovative techniques to boost fuel efficiency and reduce the emission gases. These include water injection, as engines use some of the gasoline for cooling instead of propulsion when they are running at high speeds. Using water injection to cool the engine can reduce fuel consumption to the tune of 13 per cent on highway trips and 4 per cent in normal running conditions.
The amount of water needed for this innovative technique is not very high. Only a few hundred milliliters of water are need for every one hundred kilometers that is driven. Motorists will need to refill the compact water tank which supplies the injection system with distilled water only at intervals of a few thousand kilometers.
The Bosh water injection system will be used for the first time in a production vehicle in the BMW M4 GTS.
Auto manufacturers are frantically trying to come up with more innovations to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency in light of tightening regulatory norms that aim to double the fuel efficiency of light trucks and cars by 2025 in the United States.
Companies have tried many different techniques including reducing the weight of vehicles by using carbon fiber, aluminum and graphene instead of steel. Ford even joined hands with tequila manufacturer, Jose Cuervo to try and see if the company’s agave plant byproduct can be used to fashion more sustainable bioplastics for incorporating in Ford vehicles.
Another company that has made advances in this field is automotive engineering consultancy Drive System Design (DSD)which teamed up with global chemical giant Solvay SA to use structural plastics to a greater degree in automotive transmissions to reduce weight.
