Super-Efficient Gas Engine Beats Best Hybrids

A group of super-smart hippy engineers in Camarillo, CA have developed a fuel-injection system they claim improves gas-engine efficiency by 50%. Transonic Combustion set out to best the best hybrid on the road, the Toyota Prius, with an exclusively gasoline fueled powerplant. And, if initial tests are an indicator, they may have done it. A test vehicle outfitted with the new technology recently scored 64 mpg in a real-world highway test (as reported by the MIT Technology Review), which is about 15 mpg better than the Prius.

The system works by heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber, kinda like a diesel. Once the petrol is in this supercritical state, it burns much faster and cleaner, therefore requiring less fuel for complete combustion. In fact, it’s so efficient that no spark is even needed for combustion.

It’s all happening folks! Just imagine the possibility of mating an engine outfitted with this technology to an electric hybrid set up. Sounds like triple-digit mileage numbers could be right around the corner.