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This could also work as a silent backup generator for home or a cottage.

Your 'butterfly' swimmer is doing the 'breaststroke.'

The engines used on our patrol boats in Vietnam had a system of several rows of triangular engine sets that worked in a similar fashion. They were the Napier Deltic engine.

Your ending comment regarding driving. I couldn't be more opposite. I love the sound, the vibrations, the gear changes, the clutch, the feel of being part of the machine. You want to be isolated completely from the machine. Different strokes (see what I did there?). Take care.

It’s two stroke, the revolution gearing doesn’t change the fact that the piston reciprocates twice per power cycle of said piston.

The world is not about to transition to EV.

The idea of the “range extender” is how I first heard the idea of hybrids described decades ago. A very small IC engine would be tuned to run at its optimal operating point to charge a smaller battery when needed and otherwise completely electric drive. It made a lot of sense to me. No transmission, the performance of electric drive but the backup capacity and energy capacity of gasoline when needed for longer trips.

Ricky, the first thing I thought seeing this engine was "that would be the ideal range extender" for a serial hybrid. I have 2 BMW i3s that do exactly the same thing but with a 600cc 2cyl engine that is tuned down for efficiency and longevity and makes around 23kW out the generator. It makes it one of the lightest production EVs made so far.

Old dude here. I’ve never been against electric cars. In fact I can see the practicality in them , except for 2 big reasons. Range and cost. Neither of which has been addressed to date. And frankly changing every car or truck to electric in America is impractical due to the cost of upgrading the grid, and needs of large semi trucks. I know they’re working on it, but we still aren’t there yet.

Why on Earth did you make the swimming analogy? It's even more complicated than engine lol

It does make sense as an REEV engine. I drive a Chevy Volt, which operates on the same basic principle. The narrow optimal torque band and cooling issues aren't as much of a problem when the engine essentially just needs two modes: on and off. Plus, an EV owner is exactly the type of person who would appreciate the low noise and vibration. Assuming all the claims are true, of course.

The range extender idea is a very cool idea. The EVs are getting better at determining the range based on the route, live road conditions, and how aggressive the EV is being driven. An EV could use the range extender along with the route planned, driver input, and conditions at the charging stations to do long haul driving in a car with a much more modest battery. It means 120 mile daily driver does not need a 200 mile range for those infrequent longer road trips to visit the inlaws. In the end, you have a cheaper priced car with less battery weight and is more efficient for those all battery trips. As your range is reduced due to battery degradation, you simply tend to use more gas, but the car is not totally pointless the moment it can't do your daily driving with a full charge on only batteries. If the energy produced per gallon of gas is better than an ICE engine, the engine is near vibration free, and nearly whisper quiet, does it matter the RPM it is most efficient at? It would not likely stand in for a super charger station, but programing a route that requires 50KW more capacity than your car has in capacity, it can supply that 50KW in whatever method best benefits the car during the trip. A hot day, maybe it assists the high power draw accessories giving your battery an easier time. On a cold day, it supplements the heating of the battery pack. The engine could even be integrated into the battery pack cooling system. I don't think it makes sense to use gas to charge batteries unless you were stranded and had no other choice. The efficiency loss on the charging and discharging is not necessary if you can immediately put the energy to use. Tuning the engine and generator to provide as close to the same voltages as used by the main systems would be really important as well.

This is just 2 opposing 2 stroke engines. To have a true 1 stroke, you would need to have a 2 stroke engine that has a combustion chamber on each side of the piston, so that it is pushed on each stroke by a power stroke. Also, I love the idea of a sine plate. Dynamcam had a sine plate design in 1941. It had the benefit of completing 4 strokes for all 12 cylinders every rotation of the engine. This means that it could produce a lot more power for every rotation than a conventional engine. It was a very promising design, I'm not sure what ever happened with it. But it is still legal to have one in an aircraft to this day.

The pursuit of efficiency will always be a worthwhile endeavor. To improve upon an existing or "old" technology is what many branches of engineering are all about. Also, what someone's education is in, or what their Linkin profile shows, is often not an indication of their full life education or experiences.

What ever happened to the guy in the 1970's that took an Opal GT, mounted a 120v electric motor to the stock transmission, then replaced the stock motor with a gasoline powered generator. As I recall, it got real good MPG in the city and fantastic MPG on the highway. Like 100 plus. Still needed the transmission as the small electric motor didnt have enough oomph for direct drive at low speeds. Experiments pre-internet are hard to track down.

Interesting question at the end! In the 1970s, during the Arab oil embargo, I worked out a plan to make a vehicle much like you propose. It simply had a battery pack, individual motors on each wheel, and a "small but efficient" engine running constantly at its most efficient speed to generate electricity to recharge the battery. That plus regenerative braking would have created an extremely efficient vehicle with 4 wheel drive and "silent running". Had something better than lead-acid batteries been available, and had I more money... woulda coulda shoulda...

14:59. The reason its a prototype is because there is ABSOLUTLY no lubrication going on. It would be extremely hard to cool that or improve its long lasting ability.

My BMW i3 was by far the best vehicle I've ever had... Came with the 2-cylinder REX that I didn't use much. But when I needed it. It was there. Loved it.

I recall seeing an article in a motorcycle magazine some 60 years ago about a multi piston engine without con rods, with the cylinders arranged radially. The pistons ran onto a central cam/crank. The engine was built into the rear wheel of a motorcycle and according to the magazine article it did run. My memory tells me it was invented by an Indian Engineer at a U.K University but I have no further knowledge of it.

Excellent look at some new innovations, the hybrid model makes perfect sense.Thanks for sharing

The concept of a range extended EV isn't new. I have a BWM i3 REx, which is one of the only production vehicles I know of that uses this architecture. It's essentially a "series plug-in hybrid", but what makes it a range-extended EV is that your primary "fuel" is electricity from the battery, which ultimately comes from the grid or home rooftop solar, and gasoline is supposed to be your secondary fuel, or support to bridge the gaps between charging stations on a road trip. It works really well. The only problem with the series hybrid design is that it's less efficient than letting the engine directly drive the wheels. Toyota's hybrid architecture is "series-parallel" such that the engine can, in certain conditions, directly provide mechanical output to the drive shaft/transaxle. This is especially desirable if your battery is depleted and you're cruising at highway speeds, and even though it results in a more complex "transmission" (e.g. with a planetary gearset, or a clutch pack like the Honda Clarity PHEV), it is ultimately more efficient when running on gas than a series hybrid. The inefficiency of the series hybrid is awfully clear when you consider how it runs when the battery is nearly depleted. It generates mechanical work, then a generator converts that to electricity, then that electricity goes into the battery, then the battery gets discharged to drive the electric motors, which convert the electricity back to mechanical work. Every time the energy is converted, you lose some efficiency. Even if each step is very efficient, when you combine them together, you lose a lot of energy. Regenerative braking helps a lot in heavy traffic, but if you're going at highway speeds over long distances, running on the REx is gets pretty poor MPG. It's in the high 20s last I tested, like 28 MPG. Icky. If I had my way, we would adopt one of these small-and-light "generator" designs -- this one or some other -- as the range extender in a so-called "series-parallel plugin hybrid" with an architecture similar to the Toyota Prius Prime or Rav4 Prime, but with a much larger battery pack. Let's say we can shrink the weight and size of the engine by 50% and triple the size of the battery pack. This would give us an EV range around 150 miles, which is enough for all but road trips. Then we'd have an 8-10 gallon gas tank which can easily bridge the gap between charging stations, even if you pull into an Electrify America station and all the chargers are broken. Oh well, just drive on gasoline for another 20 miles until you find the next one. A car of this design would work perfectly fine even in a charging "desert" (where all the chargers are broken, or they don't exist), and at a decent fuel efficiency, too (probably 40 mpg or higher in a mid-size sedan configuration). But it would also have 150 miles of EV range, so if you charge it up at home, nearly all trips, even "regional" trips (say, trips from the Baltimore area to the Washington DC area) could be taken completely on electricity. But if you needed to drive out to the midwest, and you couldn't find good chargers or didn't have time to stop, you could just keep driving on gasoline, and fill up every 200-250 miles at a gas station. That would be the "dream car" for me, and I would probably buy cars that operate on that architecture for the rest of my life. 95% of my driving would be fueled by the grid (so, its "cleanliness" would depend on the energy mix of the power grid) and partially offset by my rooftop solar. The remaining 5%, those long distance trips, would not require me to rent a car -- I would just use gas to the extent necessary.

There are a few companies doing rage extenders. This seems to be a nice stop gap while battery tech catches up. There's a Canadian company (Edison Motors) doing this for big logging trucks.

my immediate thoughts when you described what a single stroke engine would have to be where either steam engine or turbine engines

Semantics aside, I would absolutely take one of these awesome engines in a vehicle. It looks fantastic and could be the bridge technology we have needed for decades.

Hi Ricky, greetings from the U.K. I recently saw this engine on UKposts, and, like you I’m an engineer, unlike you I’m nearly 60 yo! What struck me most about the engine was concerns about lubrication and cooling. I do find the design interesting though.

I'm currently converting a 1980 VW pickup truck using a Tesla small drive unit and 90kWh battery pack. I'm seriously considering making provisions for a portable generator that I can put in the bed if I want to go on longer trips. It would be strapped or bolted down and would power the VW's onboard charger. If the VW takes 12kw to go 55mph and I can put 6kW back into the battery via the onboard charger and portable generator I will effectively double my range. Generally speaking, I do not like hybrids but a REX hybrid is intriguing. Thanks for all you do! Bill

Hi Regarding two stroke engines being dirty; Take a look at how Husqvarna and Mc Culloch (the same company now Mc Culloch is a Husqvarna with a "cooler" image) has solved the issue with some unburnt fuel escaping the engine during gas exchannge. Genious! I really hope that the emplyee who invented that got a really, really big bonus :) Husqvarna calls the technology "X-Torq" and McCulloch calls it "Oxy power" Basically you have two inlets to the crank case. One for clean air and one for unusually rich fuel/air mix. the clean air mass end up first in que so that the exhaust gases are flushed out with air only. After the gases are mixed to a normal fuel to air ratio during the compression stroke. Oh b.t.w. as far as I´m concerned block powder smoke and two stroke exhaust are the two best smells in the world :)

During your video you mentioned about the difficulty of ventilating the space between the opposing pistons I too wondered about this also. If you had looked at a drawing of a real 2 stroke engine you would have seen that piston on the down stroke is used to push the air fuel mixture into the cylinder acting a bit like a supercharger The eREX engine did not have a crankcase to allow this to happen. The explanation from eREX that the escaping exhaust gas sucked in the induction air is not true but I wondered how it could work properly. Then you mentioned at the end that the eREX had a supercharger fitted. This does the same job as the piston crank case supercharging that I mentioned earlier. Two stroke engines do not work well naturally aspirated. The fitting of the supercharger was genius move along with the fuel injection as this means the induction space can now be fully ventilated without wasting fuel . Note that a turbocharger would not have worked here as well as the supercharger .

As to your end point, I think I do agree. I hate the idea of hybrid vehicles, because I love the simplicity of an electric drivetrain, but at least with our current electricity storage technology, gasoline excels in the power density area. For longer trips, or hauling heavy loads, some type of compact range extender could be very valuable to a lot of folks.

I agree, call it synchronized double stroke or something different but more accurate. Interesting though.

👍 Even a tiny range extender matched to a 60 mph load would be all you need. If you know you're going on a long trip without a charging station you'd simply activate the range extender. If your in a pinch the range extender could automatically kick in at 20% left. (Try not to suck the battery flat. Newer chemistries prefer ½ charge during non-use time.)

I would love to see this range extender option on a trailer to be used or even rented for long trips, since majority of the time it's not needed since an average modern EV is getting about 300 miles per charge available every morning if you change over night and average daily drive in US is between 25 to 50 miles per day.

Would be interesting to combine this with a heat pump exchange system on a REX style EV. Would probably help tremendously in cold environments as waste heat from the ICE could heat the battery and cabin.

I love this idea, i hope that more vehicles will adapt it, as to eliminate the range anxiety and save on gaz

One thing I did notice in the documentation you flashed was that they said the engine was fuel agnostic. The paper mentioned hydrogen, which Japan does seem to be betting on along with a nuclear reactor that'll be good at producing Red Hydrogen, but there's also a lot of research into making a fuel of Ammonia, if they can just find a properly scalable alternative to Haber-Bosch. And if the same range extender engine could work with all these fuels just a different tank and minor modification, that could really future proof range extension against a ton of market shifts.

Tesla user here. I used to think BEV (pure EVs) were the only way forward, but now I see how important it has become to diversify EV tech. Having a small engine will overcome most of the fears slow adopters need to make the switch. Things like cold weather performance, cabin heating, cost of large battery packs, having no home charging, and quickly adding range. Plus gasoline isn't the only fuel, there are plenty of combustible fuels out there to help reduce fossil fuel use. So by all means, let's get those tiny engines into series hybrids (EREVs). I hope that maybe AI can help us figure out the best possible generator setup, to optimize it faster.

Excellent video....THANKS FOR DOING THESE VIDEOS FOR US

I agree with the sentiment of most comments here. Engine generators seem to be the primary application of IC going forward. This would be a PERFECT auto range extender, portable genset, or residential backup genset.

Horizontally-opposed pistons have been around for a long while too. The old Napier Deltic was a two-stroke, horizontally opposed engine. This INNengine looks interesting though. I do wonder how that swash-plate design would stand up to prolonged heavy use.

I think EV fans overestimate how many others are on the EV bandwagon.

Agree, this is a two stroke. BTW, not all two stroke engines burn oil-gas mix, that's only done if the backside of the piston (i.e. crankcase side) is used as the 'air pump'. All 'heat engines' have four phases and it's sometimes tricky to find them. An expansion/power phase, heat rejection phase, compression/pump phase, and heat addition phase. They often overlap, but they are there somewhere. Oh, and using each end of this engine to drive a front/real axle in an 'all wheel drive' could only work off road. Normal AWD on firm roads requires the front/ rear drive shafts have to be allowed to turn at different rates around curves to avoid tire wear problems.

It makes sense, so it's like a Series-type Hybrid engine for its intended purpose while still being applicable for being the main power of a vehicle. Especially considering how long it takes to get a full charge with current superchargers. It's more efficient in this set up since there's no long transmission shaft plus gearbox since the mechanical power is directly sent to a generator unit. There are electric car owners who also buy small generators that they could stow into their trunk as makeshift range extenders and keeping their batteries charged. So this is good. Small pack, very low noise level, nigh negligible vibration, and lighter.

This improved 2 stroke design sounds quite brilliant really. I like that the weight is reduced and efficiency improved while also happening in a quiet engine. That checks a lot of boxes. I wonder if the exhaust gasses could also be used to pre heat the incoming air/fuel mixture as well? As a rural Canadian I can say that Ice engines will always be needed here even after a large electric roll out. Improved ICE engines will be very much in demand for the foreseeable future. Our vast distances, plentiful resources and cold weather do not fit with 100% electric/battery solutions

Range extension either by a small efficient internal combustion engine or induction coils intermittently imbedded in the roadway seems like a must. The untold story is always extremes of hot and cold requiring heating and air conditioning.

I think Toyota had it right. They stated that hybrid vehicles were the smarter way to go. Especially with larger batteries requiring more use of precious resources. Going electric drivetrain and combustion range extension just makes much more sense in the eventual transition to full EV adoption. Dodge just announced their truck (Ram Charger) would have this architecture, and Chevy had this years ago with the Volt. I'm all for it.

Kudos on an accurate title: 200% MORE power = 3x the power/lb, which you support in the comparison to the Mustang engine. 200% AS powerful would = twice the power. Your precision of speech makes you more trustworthy in my book. 😊

Wow, what a cool engine. With low bottom end torque the idea of using it as a range extender seems brilliant.

Range extenders in pick up trucks and larger vehicles is definitely gonna be something. We're gonna live with for quite a while. The ram pick up truck with the range extender It's going to be interesting to see when they actually get it produced what it's like.

This is very much how hybrid sailing boats work. Of course they have sails so theoretically they have an unlimited range. They often have regen on their propellers so that the batteries recharge when they are sailing, and they often have solar panels. In addition to using electricity to run their instruments and appliances, they have an electric motor for when there is no wind or when they are coming into or leaving a marina. The hybrids also have an generator so that they can recharge their batteries if needed, even if they seldom use it. Then there are electric hybrid power boats that don't have sails and run entirely off of electric motors. These also have generators that recharge the batteries when necessary.

The no joke two stroke! Marketing buzz words, that will be a quarter million into my bank account. Thank you very much!

This is a very interesting engine and if it's a clean burning, reliable and etc, it will bring back the 2 cycle motorcycles, cars and many more items. I like the idea. Thanks for posting.

Something to consider is what about an "upgrade pack" that can be put into a car trunk or the bed of a truck like those metal tool boxes you see all the time in trucks and that just ties into the battery. If you ever do what the upgrade its a simple plug and play install. I could see this being attractive compromise for a lot of people.

Just a little 2 cents here, a lot of phev could benefit from this kind of engine, I currently have an outlander phev, the wheel are operated by only the EV motors, but the gasoline engine can provide extra electricity at lower speed or directly contribute to the wheel when above 70km/h. The vehicule is equipped with a 1 speed transmission only for that. This engine design could potentially help that kind of vehicule with low range about 61 km per charge, making them more efficient in charging the battery or providing power. Also there are so many applications for this this could be a really good way to move forward with reducing emissions like you pointed out ! Great video have a nice day

Having owned a Chevy Volt for years, the range-extender concept was perfect... for a much earlier time. Anyone who has become accustomed to a current EV will say that the whole internal combustion system is just a waste of space and weight, better devoted to a larger battery. The excess expense, complexity and pollution of any combustion engine is just unnecessary,

Cool video! Subscribed. Thanks.

Another reason this would make sense in a hybrid is as a solution to the too cold problem. You can start the engine and use it to heat the battery to temps it can be used. It also free you from the electric grid. You could totally run the engine to power the battery when necessary.

Range extender not only makes total sense but in cold weather it's the only salvation for EVs

I thought it's a good vid, explaining things well. I agree one can't wrap one's head around "one-stroke" for an engine, any piston cycle has to "reset" thus the minimum is 2 strokes

Yes, like the range extension/battery charger application of the engine design you described in this video. I drive a hybrid. It makes sense where I live, a place that features flat to rolling terrain, and not many electric car charging stations. I am also concerned about have enough electricity generating capacity to charge a large fleet of electric vehicles. For me, an hybrid makes sense because if enables me to have a larger vehicle with smaller vehicle fuel efficiency.

The range extender option has existed for decades. It is called a diesel electric locomotive. There was also a guy I used to carpool with who had previously worked at Bell Labs. One of the guys there had built one where if he could charge it. He did, but if he didn't, he had a 10 horsepower engine that ran a generator. Apparently this was actually partially funded by Bell Labs itself. Problem was gas was 30 cents a gallon back then.

Great video I feel smarter after watching this

Absolutely makes sense to have an erex system. I have had 6 Tesla BEVs and 4 Chevy Volt EREVs. One of each most recently. The Teslarati deride the idea of carrying around the weight of a small ICE range extender that might be used less than 10% of the time. But you never hear the counterargument against carrying around a MUCH heavier 100 kWh battery when 8 - 12 kWh is all that is used 90% of the time. As long as we are using relatively scarce, heavy and expensive lithium ion as the principal type of battery pack, I think 14 kWh and 7 times the number of clean cars built with the same amount of battery material makes eminent good sense.

2:43 you did not show butterfly while you are explaining about it. Thank you for this information!

Perfect explanation and summary of these multi cycle architectures. The ev range extender is a real interesting point. Adding the thousand pound battery to a cybertruck or airplane to go an additional 100 miles is a non starter for me but an electric generator that can accomplish the same range extension at 100 pounds is worth developing.

I live in Minnesota and for us a fully electric vehicle when temps are below 0 is a tough sell. You can't forget about us and the effect freezing temps have on battery life. Up here a hybrid vehicle makes more sense. I own a truck and pull an > 9500lb load with boat, gear and passengers. My preferred lake is 1.5 hours away. An electric truck would only get me there one way and have no good way to charge on way back, unless I am willing to stop somewhere for 4 hours. A hybrid version, so ICE kicks in to charge my battery on way back, would be a very convincing proposition. At least for now, while tech and infrastructure catch up, hybrid versions of electric vehicles are the best option for many of us.

Using your metaphor, a one stroke motor as a swimmer will be like doing the dolphins swim

Suggested is a light weight, high power, very efficient combined motive vehicle power system consisting of, and marketed as a 4-Hybrid : Gas ICE/Super Capacitor Bank/Range Extender/E-CVT Transmission Vehicle.

Back in the early 2000's Chevy was producing the VOLT. It was an all electric platform but had a small gas engine that would run a generator. So it would provide electricity for the motor and recharge the battery. At the time it was out of my price range but I was all for that type of platform.

6:34 This is over a 400-year-old design. An ancient inventor drew it and said in the future they would have the ability to actually make it but they didn't have the materials back 400 years ago

This is why we need a range extension. We do not have enough electricity to supply the battery market. But adding a motor as a charger, we are able to use a motor at even rpm, producing less emissions .plus motor doesn't have to run all the time. Right know we need these kind of designs.

Another vote for the range extender. Picture run down of battery charge in a desert or extreme rural environment - is anyone going to provide rescue with a bucket of electrical charge? Great video!

Just bought a Rav4 Ev--(2.5l engine charges the battery /-Electric motor drives wheel+ a bit of help from gasoline motor via a gearing system) Fuel use 5.5 litres per 100Km. Sydney to to Brisbane (2032-Olympic city) a round 900km. (900/5.5 =49.5 litres of petrol. @ $2.00 a litre =$100 each way. In my Toyota HighLux diesel Ute I can always count on $200 for the one way trip. Yes I know its not a full EV but this is Australia and we do big Km's, with little in between major cities. At least I'm part of the way towards being EV. That feels gooood!

The world is not going electric anytime soon.

OK, As a man that started working on lawn mower moters for my home made go carts, and into my teen aged years with cars and hot rods, and lots of rebuilds of the Mazda Rotary, my time in the military as a jet engine mechanic, my schooling in Jet engine propulsion, and automobile and motorcycle mechanics, as well as generator maintenence, I have got to say 1 thing, this insane electric vehicle push, (While I do feel SOME DAY, will be benificial to mankind) we truly are decades away from that spot, you asked the question "Why would anyone spend money on R&D for a new type and style of internal combustion engine, since those are soon to go the way of the dinasaur?" ok I do not have your exact words, BUT I do have an answer, see I remember when I was a child and the NEW big thing, was the solar cell, they put this big solar cell on a calculator, (Which only uses a tiny bit of electricity) to operate a calculator, the effieciency just was not there, I think those first cells were about 9% effiecient, MAYBE, and NOW, TODAY, they want everyone to put these new high effieciency solar cells on their houses and try to run your house on solar energy, while the effieciency has dramatically increased, I think it is up to aroud the 45% range now, plenty of elecrtical engineers who have more PHD's than shold be legal, tend to agree, that until solar cells get up to an effieciency of MORE than 60% it is not viable to replace your elecricity in your house, couple those cells with batteries, (EXPENSIVE BATTERIES) and replacing all of your lights, appliances ECT. and the cost to benifit ratio drops significantly, but they CAN save you money on your electric bills, and then i look back into history, in the 1950's when the U.S. Military was searching for a new fighter plane design, and the best that was available was the McDonell Douglas F-2 Phantom II, and it was determined by some moron politician that the age of the guns on guns dogfight was over, so the F-4 was developed and built WITHOUT an internal gun, then move forward to the 1960's when the U.S.A.F, United States Navy and the USMC, all had to fly the F-4 into combat in Vietnam, and got chewed to pieces because the more nimple enemy MIGs pushed in close and got them wrapped up in a guns on guns dogfight, we lost a lot of pilots because of some idiot from Washington D.C. and then spring forward to the late 1960's when the replacement for the F-4 were being designed, instead of talking with POLITICIANS, they talked to the men that would be flying the plane into combat, and they all said, I WANT "GUNS" since then, EVERY tactical fighter and attack plane made by the United States has an internally mounted gun, and then I read the findings on a very detailed experiment from an electrical engineer, a PHD Proffessor working at MIT, he bought a brand new Tesla and miticusolously documented the KW's that he charged into the vehicle over the course of a year, and to everyones surprise he did the conversions from KW hours to gallons of gas and discovered that the Tesla has TERRIBLE gas mileage, about 5.2 MPG, not to mention that we have not yet had any companies invest in the REQUIRED infrastructure that will be needed to stop producing internal combustion engines, I do not see them going anywhere for at least another 30 years, probably closer to 50 years, the internal combustion is far from being done. just like the internal guns on our fighter planes, they are far from being un needed as some other idiot in Washington D.C predicted 70 years ago. now consider the cost of that infrastructure is estimated to be in the 100 TRILLION dollar range, I say do not count out the Internal combustion engine, it is way too premature, I can come up with other examples, but my response is already long enough.

The rod and the piston are a single piece for all practical purposes. When the piston is pushing against the swash plate, the reaction has two components: one along the rod and one perpendicular to it. The latter excerts a moment resulting in differential pressure on the cylinder, producing unwanted differential wear.

Using gasoline as a range extender is actually a pretty good idea, especially with an engine like that...

Rickey, you just gave me leaf blower guilt. Like the straight talking of your channel. Thanks again. And yes Using this as a range extender option is a great idea. Excellent hp performance, high efficiency coupled with super charged torque of EV battery. Win-Win hybrid model.

Again THIS IS JUST A OPPOSED PISTON 2 STROKE ENGINE !!!! I am getting tired of telling spam youtube scam channels this !!! Opposed 2 stroke engines is not new and have been used for more then half a decade.

Really enjoy your videos. With few exceptions, I usually forego videos over 10-12 minutes. Yours is one of those exceptions, because your narration is so fluid, and packed with relevant info, you keep the video interesting. Having said that, I do think the interest in EV's, when not gov't mandated, is being given a more scrutinized look, and I don't think their future is as immediate as some speculated. An extender would certainly sweeten the deal, though there are still a myriad of environmental concerns with mining for batteries, etc. Another matter is what form of energy drives the generators that produce the electricity for EV's; our grid is already heavily taxed. An IC engine that meets much higher fuel economy, and fills in minutes, still has a viable future, in my opinion; not to mention all the everyday products that come from petroleum. Thank you for covering this subject matter.

I'm with you.I would have named it something different like cycloidal, Something to do with the fact that the cams move the way they do to help the pistons... That's unique

That engine is outstanding! Four stroke gasoline engines are 33% efficient at most. 100% more is 66% and 200% is 133% efficient! Yes, what a breakthrough.

We just bought a Prius Prime. It has a 41 mile EV range and an ICE with a 10 gallon gas tank. After only 1 week of use I can confirm that an EV with a range extender is the (current) way to go.

Hi Ricky, what about the adiabatic engine? I read a magazine article inthe early eighties about Mr. Smokey Yunik. Supposedly the Big Three had given up on this approach, unable to develop durable enough ceramic composites for pistons and cylinders. According to the article Smokey had built an adiabatic engine and put it in a Dodge Omni or Plymouth Horizon. He invited automotive journalists to come and test drive the car, and to run it as hsrd as they could in an effort to blow it up. As I recall [from about fourty years past] the journalist writing the article drove this car and was extremely impressed. I seem to remember that the fuel economy was extremely high, but the details escape me. My understanding was that the Adiabatic Engine had multiple stages of cylinders, where the combustion mixture was pumped to very high pressures [and correspondingly high temperatures], and that a much higher percentage of the stored energy in the gasoline was used, and a much lower amount of lost heat energy exited the tail pipe. As always we enjoy your insighful and informative videos! Keep up the good work! Thank you!👍

Cough WANKEL ROTARY cough (We’ve had one strokes for almost 100 years)

The beard on this man, it’s literally perfect

I didn't notice any comments about emissions, which was the demise of most, if not all, 2-stroke engines, such as the GMC 2-stroke diesel, and the Wartsila 2-stroke engine, the latter of which was one of the most efficient engines ever produced. Opposed 2-stroke, headless engines, same as this so-called 1-stroke engine, but using two crank shafts instead of the two swash plates, have been produced for ships and other vehicles, for over 100 years.

I currently own 3 Hybrid vehicles. I am a Mechanic and class Driver in Los Angeles. There are far too many problems associated with full electric vehicles in this city. With that being said, my favorite vehicle is a 2017 Chevy Volt. This as you probably know is an electric vehicle with a gas powered generator. I would like to see more electric vehicles with worthy, fuel efficient range extenders that can be powered by gas or diesel when the battery is depleted. I’ve even considered converting a classic car into such a vehicle. The eRex if it were able to power a generator economically running at a consistent speed may work well for such a project. I think electric can provide exactly what eRex is lacking. Building a lighter hybrid that gets better mileage?

Sounds like these companies are attempting to invent the Hybrid car.

Dang! I just learned that I partially paid for my MSF in Range and Wildlife Biology with my "Bespoke Seating Projects" engineer employment. ;-)

As usual, great analysis!

Dear Ricky, I keep watching your videos, however, it is perplexing to me that you cling to the notion that we are converting our world to an all electric environment. All while EV sales are sliding downward and only because EVs are not living up to the hype promoted about them. Our current electric grid simply cannot support the conversion to the world you envision. The fact remains, as you so smartly pointed out in this video, the energy density of electricity cannot begin to compare to the energy density of gasoline. Bottom line to me is that internal combustion remains the way of the future.

One new and one old advance - for a double efficiency cleaner 4 stroke engine efficiency, is a third double size piston between two power pistons driving the double size by the exhaust stroke. Ideal for balancing 3 pistons. With supercharger, which is a suction pump, can vacuum evapourate petrol for a more efficient power stroke adding to the more powerful exhaust stroke.

I really like the idea of a range extender. I won't go EV till I can tow things and travel long distances with my family before needing to recharge...and quite frankly 250 to 300 miles doesn't cut it out west when traveling.

A small range extender, yes please! As a backup mainly, a great little engine if they pull it off

Definitely an interesting episode of this engine, and initially I was reminded of the rotary engine, which you later mention. As far as future episodes, I’d like to see some discussion around tax. Should the grid go down in terms of us remaining in communication or how technology would still be utilized. I think the obvious one is power stations, solar and Starlink, but I think there are some interesting ones such as Meshtastic and LoRa devices.

This e-Rex would be FANTASTIC in a Chevy Volt! They already have a car with a gas powered range extender -- the little, optimized 100 HP gas engine generates electricity for the all electric drive train! We gotta get GM to reinvigorate this design -- and, if you're not aware, GM has a ton of expertise in these designs as they build Diesel Locomotives which are just this design.

I'm sure you already know this, but modern locomotives are extremely fuel-efficient. They use large diesel engines to continually charge up the batteries used in providing locomotion. In my mind, until we get more energy-dense and efficient batteries with true ethical and environmentally safe production and manufacturing methods that can charge as fast as someone can refuel a typical gasoline or diesel engine, hybrids are the way to go. The idea of having an efficient engine that can continually charge the batteries with current battery technology is considerably more appealing than simply using an inefficient battery with minimal recharge (on the go) capabilities that take hours to recharge. If I'm on a road trip, I don't want to drive 250-300 miles and then have to wait hours before I can continue on my trip.

YES!!!! At the end of your video, you said EXACTLY what crossed my mind. Why can't we use ICE to charge (re-charge?) the onboard battery pack? The engine is there SOLEY as a mobile generator, nothing more. I am not a mechanical engineer but I've heard ICE engines can - when tuned perfectly - be highly fuel efficient and relatively clean. A EV car with a battery big enough for around 100 miles, plus this range extender. I'm unsure if a battery can both charge and discharge at the same time. With a TON of help from software, the driver can activate the ICE if they know they're traveling a long way. I'm a computer guy so I'm unsure the engieering/science of if all. But if it can be done, I can write the software to control it.

The problem with range extender setups is the battery. When it comes down to battery wear, the most prevalent is cycling as long as there's no defects. Say a battery has a good 2000 cycles. If I have a 250 mile range battery, then I've got 2000 x 250 = 500k mile battery lifetime and then I've still got a good 175 miles. If I reduce the battery capacity down to say 50 miles to get away with a smaller battery and add in an engine and all its components while 95% of my driving is done on electric, then I have a (2000 x 50)/0.95 or 105k mile battery lifetime and it's down to 35 miles. You can say it doesn't matter because it's still a certain amount of miles per kWh of capacity or miles per minerals, but everyone knows, the car that has 100k on it, rarely get's it's battery replaced and not the whole thing junked.