Libertine, demos hybrid ethanol tech for heavy duty vehicles

In the UK, Libertine FPE, the creator of Smart Engine technology for hybrid electric vehicles and distributed power generation, has demonstrated technology that could help leading truck manufacturers to fulfil pledges to make all heavy-duty vehicles fossil free by 2040.

With Libertine’s technology, hybrid heavy-duty powertrains using a combination of renewable grid power and renewable bioethanol fuel could offer OEMs a practical, cost effective solution to help achieve this vital transition to sustainable fuels and ‘net-zero’ (carbon neutrality).

The project, supported by a grant from the UK Government’s Sustainable Innovation Fund, has shown how a ‘Free Piston’ engine can achieve an improvement in cold start performance using bioethanol by briefly increasing the compression ratio at startup, compensating for chamber wall cooling effects that contribute to misfiring under cold start conditions.