US experts believe that the internal combustion engine (ICE) has a long future.
The recent Fuel Economy conference in Detroit revealed some division between experts, but the general view is that much can be done to increase efficiency in ICE and consumers have a great deal of choice.
The current US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations require each OEM’s car and light truck models to raise average fuel efficiency from the current 27.3mpg, to 54.5mpg by 2025.
Michael Olechiw, Director, Light-duty Vehicle and Small Engine Center, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA said: “It looks like there will be some incremental improvements realised over the next few years, as the current performance of fleets doesn’t represent the future of high efficiency engines." He believes transmissions can also be much more efficient than they are now.
Ford's Senior Technical Advisor Matthew Zaluzec emphasised the need to give consumers what they want. “We’ve got small compact vehicles all the way to large SUVs in our product portfolio. Any company has to offer this type of product range to survive.” Ford is working to reduce the weight of ICE components.
Opinion was divided about the cost of electric vehicles and whether hybrid is the way to go in the future. John German, Senior Fellow, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) says, "ICEs will play an important role. It’s not going to be difficult or expensive, but they just need to pick a pathway.”