Nissan to Debut New Low-Emissions Gasoline Engines in Late 2009

NEW VEHICLESNissan to Debut New Low-Emissions Gasoline Engines in Late 2009  WAUKEGAN, IL - Nissan has announced it will begin marketing four- and six-cylinder gasoline engine cars with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions comparable to today's clean diesels by 2010. CO2 emissions are a direct measure of fuel use. Nissan says that for the foreseeable future, the internal combustion engine will continue to be the primary vehicle power source. The automaker says four-cylinder gasoline engines will achieve the new low CO2 levels by combining direct fuel injection (DI) with next-generation turbocharger systems, and that V6 and V8 gasoline engines will achieve the same result using DI combined with "Variable Valve Event and Lift Systems" (VVEL).  While compression ratios and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rates of these engines are not given, research on the high-efficiency dilute gasoline engine (HEDGE) system at Southwest Research Institute for a consortium of firms - including Nissan - indicates that higher compression ratios and EGR rates can contribute to gasoline/diesel efficiency parity.  VVEL technology without gasoline DI is expected to cut CO2 emissions by 10 percent, and it will be employed in 2007 for Japan and North America. An additional dramatic use of HEDGE technology by Nissan will be a "three-liter car" (fuel consumption of 3L per 100 km, or 77.5 mpg). U.S. Nissan Representative Fred Standish declined to give an indication of the size of such a car, except to say it will be "small" and likely marketed first during 2010 and targeted at Asian markets.  Another Nissan development is an engine system to be marketed in Brazil starting in 2009 that can operate with 100 percent ethanol. SAAB has announced a 100 percent ethanol capable engine system that employs electric heaters in the intake manifold to vaporize ethanol during cold starting. The manifold heaters are used similar to how glow plugs are employed in diesels to aid starting. Both are turned off soon after engine starts.  Further adding to car efficiency is Nissan's already established Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT); Nissan says that by the end of 2007, 1 million of its cars will have been fitted with CVTs, which cut CO2 emissions by up to 10 percent. Nissan says it will launch six vehicles in Japan that feature a package of environmental technologies that will exceed 2010 Japanese-regulated fuel economy standards by 20 percent and emit 75 percent less exhaust emissions than 2005 standards. For markets with established acceptance of diesels, Nissan says it has developed diesel engines with advanced emissions controls - the first of which will be a 2.0L engine for Europe in 2007 that meets the Euro IV emissions standards. Diesels that meet U.S. Tier2 Bin5 standards are also planned. (Source: Nissan)