FEV to Display Extremely Downsized Engine (EDE) at 2010 SAE World Congress

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 8 -- FEV, Inc., (FEV) a leading developer of advanced powertrain and vehicle technologies, announced today that it will show its Extremely Downsized Engine (EDE) at 2010 SAE World Congress, April 13 - 15, 2010 at Cobo Center in Detroit. The engine delivers a specific power of more than 100 kW/L and offers enhanced part load efficiency with dramatic improvements in low-end torque. FEV will display the technology in its booth, #430. This is the first time that this technology will be shown in the U.S.

FEV developed its EDE in anticipation of stringent new emissions laws due to take effect in both Europe and the U.S. After analysis of various approaches that have the potential of meeting aggressive future CO2 emission levels, FEV determined that downsizing and boosting appears to hold the most promise to meet the engineering targets. Although downsizing via a combination of boosting and direct injection is not a new concept, it is important to develop concepts that also optimize part load operation. With this goal in mind, FEV engineers have harnessed the potential of a combination of boosting and direct injection and created a turbocharged two-valve SOHC three-cylinder engine with 698 cm3 displacement. The base engine is the Smart Brabus engine.

Direct injection (DI) is integrated by replacing the twin spark ignition with a single spark plug on the exhaust side with the DI device in place of the removed spark plug on the intake side. The DI spray pattern layout was optimized using FEV's injector layout tool chain, which combines an early layout of the base geometry, FEV's Multi-Layout Tool, and the FEV Charge Motion Design (CMD) process. A significant goal in this optimization was to reduce wall wetting to reduce the potential of diluting the engine's oil supply with fuel.

FEV engineers also integrated independent, fully-variable intake and exhaust cam phasing using components from Mahle and Hydraulik Ring.

The specific power target for the powerplant is 100kW/L. However, part load efficiency is dramatically improved without sacrificing peak power and low-end torque is improved by about 32% @ 1,500 rpm. With a bore diameter of 66.5 mm, the FEV EDE is the smallest competitor powertrain in this market and could be adapted to the Japanese regulations for K-class vehicles. The small powertrain could also be utilized as part of a hybrid powertrain system.

About FEV

The FEV Group is an internationally recognized powertrain and vehicle engineering company that supplies the global transportation industry. FEV offers a complete range of engineering services, providing support across the globe to customers in the design, analysis, prototyping, powertrain and transmission development, as well as vehicle integration, calibration and homologation for advanced internal combustion gasoline-, diesel-, and alternative-fueled powertrains. FEV also designs, develops and prototypes advanced vehicle / powertrain electronic control systems and hybrid-electric engine concepts that address future emission and fuel economy standards. The FEV Test Systems division is a global supplier of advanced test cell, instrumentation and test equipment. The FEV Group employs a staff of over 1,800 highly skilled specialists at advanced technical centers on three continents. FEV, Inc. employs approximately 300 personnel at FEV's North American Technical Center in Auburn Hills, MI.