Renault has showcased a two stroke diesel engine at their Innovations@Renault at Paris! Yes you read it right. A two stroke diesel mill for a car! While this may be a common feature in large container ships, our humble passenger cars are not exactly the means of transportation you would expect to have it.
The thermal efficiency of two stroke diesel engines usually range around 50 per cent, while the average four stroke diesel mills have a hard time trying to reach an efficiency of even 35 per cent. So why haven’t we seen more two strokes in the diesel world so far? Because it is rather an uphill task to calibrate a small two stroke diesel mill fit for automotive use. Renault has taken this challenge and is aiming to do so under its project POWERFUL, which stands for Powertrain for Future Light Duty vehicles.
The prototype is half the size of the capacity of the familiar 1.5 L dCi diesel engine doing duty in Renault-Nissan JV cars in India and other countries. Displacing 730cc, the engine gets a supercharger as well as a turbocharger. The exact output figures have not been declared but the press release claims a maximum power output in the range of 47.6 to 68 PS and peak torque between 112 to 145 Nm at 1,500 rpm.
The engine is still in its developmental stage and is being worked on by 18 industrial, scientific and academic partners in France, Spain and the Czech Republic, with investments coming from the European Union.
On the other hand, Renault is busy developing a petrol mill displacing 800 cc for its upcoming small hatch XBA for markets like India. So if the XBA gets successful, can we expect this futuristic two stroke diesel to find a home in the XBA in the near future?
