Automobile knowledge: how long will the internal combustion engine quit the historical stage?

It is an irresistible trend for new energy vehicles to become "the general trend". How soon will the internal combustion engine become history?

There have been a series of discussions on similar issues in the industry. It is generally believed that the exit of internal combustion engine will be divided into two stages, and there will be a subversive upgrade at the technical level in different stages. It is generally believed that the first stage will be "2025", and the traditional internal combustion engine as an engine will bid farewell to the historical stage completely, which is naturally due to the probable "ban on the sale of fuel vehicles" (non-ban) and the "legal growth" of power battery technology.

0 1

Moore's Law

At the same price, the number of components that can be accommodated on an integrated circuit will double every 18/24 months.

The application scope of this law covers almost all fields of "physical level" and is the basic reference for performance prediction in industrial field. In the next five years, the technical level of power battery, power semiconductor and motor will advance by leaps and bounds, which can also be confirmed by the appearance of a brand-new LFP (lithium iron phosphate battery) with good quality and low price. At present, electric drive technology has the hard power to replace fuel vehicles, but it still needs a "transition period" to cover the whole field, which is "extended range" to put it bluntly.

The efficiency of the traditional internal combustion engine is about 35%

Thermal efficiency is one of the important reference factors to analyze the technical level of internal combustion engine, and its concept is the proportion of total thermal energy produced by combustion that can be converted into effective work. The thermal efficiency calibrated by major OEMs has been in the range of 35%~40%. Although it is still extremely low compared with the level of about 95% of the motor, it has made great progress from the comprehensive development history of a hundred years. Just have you ever thought about this question: referring to Moore's Law, it seems that the progress of internal combustion engines is too slow.

The reason is that the energy conversion mode of "chemical engine" has inherent defects, and the laws of thermodynamics determine that this machine will inevitably waste a lot of energy. Therefore, the elimination of internal combustion engines and conventional energy sources is an inevitable result, but this machine also plays the role of "range extender". It is necessary to use internal combustion engine in a small scale on the premise that low-cost electric vehicles can not achieve ideal battery life and special vehicles are inconvenient to charge. However, the shape of the internal combustion engine is likely to undergo subversive changes, and the concept may be "hybrid electricity".

02

Super single cylinder

The traditional internal combustion engine is a piston reciprocating cycle internal combustion engine, and its mechanical structure is very complicated. Just look at the power conversion part, there are always about four groups of piston-driven connecting rods, which push the crankshaft; Only after being connected with the crankshaft respectively can alternating work be realized, and the torque is output through the crankshaft. This complex structure is difficult to achieve ultra-high compression ratio, and the wear and tear of the structure is difficult to control because of the high compressor, so both gasoline and diesel engines will have obvious shortcomings.

"Super single cylinder" was put forward by an unknown technician in the industry. The idea is to keep the cylinder block and piston structure, but cancel the complex structure such as crankshaft and ignition system, and completely adopt electromagnetic drive, and realize "homogeneous stratified combustion" with ultra-high compression ratio by upgrading materials. Moreover, the piston will move left and right like a pendulum, and the effective use of all work will be realized by using the respective driving forces of "explosion and discharge". This kind of machine can achieve the power consumption of electromagnetically driven piston, which is less than the electric energy converted by compression-ignition reciprocating work, and the power generation efficiency will be several times that of the traditional internal combustion engine.

To sum up, the aircraft is currently in the research and development stage, and once it is mass-produced, it can change the shape of internal combustion engines and vehicles; Ultra-efficient combustion can effectively control exhaust gas, and barrel cylinder can realize free combination and flexible connection. Therefore, the endurance and NVH of the vehicle will be greatly improved, and it is an ideal choice for entry-level electric vehicles and special work vehicles. This extended-range car may exist for a long time, but the overall shape is somewhat sci-fi.