Lotus to develop new research engine

Lotus has announced a collaboration with Queen's University Belfast and Jaguar, the product of which will be the development of an engine that runs on renewable fuels.

The concept engine, designed to maximise fuel efficiency, will be called the 'Omnivore' and will utilise a unique engine architecture to obtain high thermal efficiency when using alcohol-based fuels or gasoline.

The project will be sponsored by the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland (DOE NI) through the Renewable Materials LINK programme.

Lotus itself is currently in the process of performing a design study and building a single cylinder research engine, set for completion in January 2009.

The aim of the project is to significantly increase fuel efficiency for sustainable bio-alcohol fuels, featuring a variable compression ratio system and two-stroke operating cycle with direct fuel injection.

Mike Kimberley, chief executive officer of Group Lotus, said: "The automotive industry is now focusing on its environmental obligations to reduce CO2 emissions and improve efficiencies and we are seeing the high technology capabilities of Lotus Engineering being in strong demand.

"Not only does our brand value of 'performance through light weight' fit perfectly with the necessary direction of the industry to produce lighter, more efficient vehicles, we are also working on all aspects of future fuels, investigating alternative powertrains to accommodate alcohol fuels as they enter the market.

"Alcohols possess superior combustion characteristics to gasoline which allow greater optimisation," Kimberley continued.

"Taking full advantage of the benefits of sustainable bio alcohols will ensure a greater percentage of vehicle miles will be travelled using renewable fuels.

"We are delighted with the investment from Defra which will assist this partnership in taking forward research development and the demonstration of this environmentally conscious transport solution."

Geraint Castleton-White, head of powertrain at Lotus Engineering, added: "The requirement to operate on gasoline in today's flex-fuel engines limits their thermal efficiency when operating on alcohol fuels.

"However, the physical and chemical properties of alcohols, when compared to gasoline, provide the potential for higher thermal efficiency operation to be achieved.

"This single-cylinder research engine will investigate a highly thermal efficient combustion system that optimises engine performance to fully exploit the properties of both gasoline and alcohol fuels and maximise efficiency."