GM unveils diesel-like gasoline engines

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors revealed two drivable concept cars with new engines that burn gasoline in virtually the same way that a diesel engine burns diesel fuel.

The engines will get 15-percent better fuel economy than ordinary gasoline engines, GM estimates, but will not need the expensive exhaust treatment that diesel engines require.


Several car companies have been working on this type of engine technology, commonly known as homogeneous charge compression ignition, or HCCI. The technology promises the fuel economy of a diesel engine, which is typically much more efficient than a gasoline engine, but with the much cleaner exhaust of a gasoline engine.

In an HCCI engine, gasoline is ignited inside the cylinder using compression and the engine’s own heat without the need of a spark. This is the same way that a diesel engine ignites diesel fuel. (When the engine is first started, and until it warms up, GM’s HCCI engine still uses a spark to ignite the fuel.)

CNN