Ethanol-Fueled Engine May Perform Better Than Gas Engines

Ricardo Inc., a powertrain engineering company in Michigan, reports that it has developed a
system that allows ethanol-fueled engines to deliver performance exceeding gasoline-fueled
engines and rival the mileage of diesels. The system is called Ethanol Boosted Direct
Injection (EBDI) and it is said to run on ethanol, gasoline or a blend of both. The company
says EBDI solves many of the challenges facing flex-fuel engines because it is optimized
for both alternative fuels and gasoline. Current flex-fuel engines pay a fuel economy
penalty of about 30% compared to gasoline when operated on ethanol blends such as E85. EBDI
improves ethanol’s efficiency to the point that its performance can be compared to that of
diesel fuel. A prototype 3.2-liter V6 could replace a larger gasoline or turbo-diesel
engine and is currently being installed in a dual-wheel pick-up truck for further testing
and evaluation.