As diesel approaches its sunset, petrol engines are still on the rise: one manufacturer has surprised

Due to their characteristics they are more suitable for various trips and their purchase price is more interesting. No less important is the fact that some personal car manufacturers are quietly “retiring” their diesel engine development units, but gasoline power plants continue to be improved.

Every second is powered by gasoline

In the Baltics last year, almost one in two new cars (46.15%) sold were powered by petrol, while diesel power plants accounted for only 28.65%. sales. At that time, the popularity of hybrid engines in our region had not yet reached that of diesels: last year, 21.15% of these cars were sold, and the market segment of new electric cars, although growing faster, in 2021 was only 2.98%.

Experts point out that it is really too early to write off petrol engines. They are becoming more and more reliable and economical. Manufacturers such as Mazda make no secret that they pay particular attention to the improvement of petrol engines.

The Japanese company recently surprised specialists by presenting the new CX-60 SUV model, which can also be equipped with a 3-liter petrol engine. The plug-in hybrid version of this model also features a 2.5-liter engine.

Japanese representatives are not alone in the development of petrol engines, as German manufacturers such as Audi or BMW constantly repeat that they will produce these engines to the extent permitted by legislation.

Room for improvements

Associate Professor of the Faculty of Transport Engineering of the Gediminas Technical University of Vilnius dr. Alfredas Rimkus says that petrol engines are still being improved because there is still room to increase their energy efficiency. However, in the development process it is necessary to take into account many components – it all depends on the materials used, durability, reliability, price.

Other similar engines had an efficiency of 0.3, which was considered good, and now exceeds 0.4, bringing it closer to diesel engines. Major manufacturers are still improving them, but progress takes time – A. Rimkus notes that these are quite complex processes.

“Manufacturers are trying to create more efficient engines, but they are forced to maneuver because they want to do it with the lowest possible costs. You can always choose more expensive materials that allow you to achieve better results, but if in the end a very expensive product is created, it will be difficult to compete with it. Therefore, these things are also regulated by the market,” explains the scientist.

According to him, experiments were once done with ceramic engine parts, which are more resistant to high temperatures, but for the reasons mentioned above such experiments never turned into consolidated solutions. However, the interviewer points out that not only are car manufacturers improving engines, but material science itself is also developing in parallel.

“As a result, some materials or their compounds may become cheaper in the future, and this will allow the efficiency of engines to be increased a little more. From a structural point of view, the biggest improvement – direct gasoline injection – was widely adopted 30 years ago. After that, there were smaller improvements, but there was no fundamental breakthrough in increasing efficiency. This process is long,” notes the associate professor.

The scientist’s words about the duration and complexity of the process are vividly illustrated by the example of the Mazda company itself. Already in 2011 the Japanese manufacturer created a special Skyactiv program for the improvement of internal combustion engines. It made it possible to simultaneously reduce fuel consumption and increase driving power.

However, the engineers did not limit themselves to just the engines: their philosophy included all the main components of the cars, so improvements made to the gearbox, body and chassis also contributed to reducing fuel consumption. A comprehensive approach has led not only to greater efficiency, but also to reliability. For nearly a decade, Mazda has consistently been named among the most reliable manufacturers in both U.S. driver surveys and European organizations’ research reports.

More and more manufacturers are not abandoning larger displacement engines for a variety of reasons, from demand pressure to the needs of sports cars. Here, the large trio of German luxury cars Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz are still installing 3 or even 4 liter power plants, so Mazda is not the only one that will produce cars with 6-cylinder engines.

A. Rimkus points out that improved fuel can also ensure more efficient operation of engines. Their more adequate composition alone can lead to an increase in efficiency of a few percentage points, while the use of new generation renewable fuels can significantly reduce CO2 emissions.

More widely applicable

Matas Buzelis, communications manager at automotive history verification firm CarVertical, believes gasoline engines aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. This will be especially noticeable in the Baltic region, because electrification comes to us far behind compared to Western countries.

“The situation will not change soon, since it is closely linked to the standard of living, dependence on energy resources, etc. For example, the rapid increase in the cost of electricity also sends the message to buyers of electric cars that the assumed savings need to be recalculated,” says the specialist.

On the other hand, even increasingly efficient petrol engines will never come close to electric ones. According to M. Buzelis, more advanced hybrid systems are therefore worth celebrating, as they are increasingly accessible to a wider range of drivers. At that time, the technological sunset of diesel is increasingly predicted: due to the tightening of ecological restrictions, this fuel will gradually have to disappear from the arsenal of personal cars.

Among other reasons, gasoline engines have numerous advantages. They warm up faster and start working at the optimal temperature, their ecological systems start working faster, so they are more suitable for driving short distances, in the city and for everyday activities.

The latest Mazda Skyactiv And this avoids excessive loads and rapid wear of the mechanisms.

“Petrol engines now work quite well even at low speeds, so they can be very useful even on the highway. Here is another aspect that petrol engines reduce the competitive gap with diesel engines, so it is only a matter of time when the latter will remain just a memory,” notes M. Buzelis.