Squeezing Out the Extra Miles Per Gallon

There are plenty of futuristic fuel-saving technologies on the blackboard. What are automakers offering drivers today?

By Jim Henry

• View Slide Show

Like contestants on a reality TV show, automakers are being forced to reach an average of 35 mpg by 2020. That's a hike of more than 50% from today's levels and, after many pratfalls and a few tears, not everyone will be a winner.

Over the next 12 years carmakers around the world who want to sell their vehicles in the U.S. will be forced to spend billions overhauling existing facilities and developing new technologies to reach the federally mandated target set for the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. But in the meantime, before fuel cells and plug-in hybrids become more than just an ambitious idea, automakers are scraping for every possible mile per gallon to reach an average of 35 mpg.

To that end, the Detroit 3 and their import-brand rivals are greatly accelerating the spread of innovative, fuel-saving technologies that are less dramatically different but more affordable and readily available than gasoline-electric hybrids, battery-powered electric vehicles, or hydrogen-consuming fuel cells.

"Our emphasis is on the migration of advanced technology that is affordable and attainable in high volumes for all our customers," said John Viera, director of sustainable business strategies for Ford (F). "That 'high volume' part is important," he added, in an Aug. 11 press briefing in New York.

Every automaker, including Ford, is adding hybrid models. But hybrids have run into battery shortages. Meanwhile, the car companies are still trying to get all the bugs out of next-generation lithium-ion batteries, which are critical to the success of longer-range, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. And fuel cells are years, probably many years, away from mass production, and a hydrogen infrastructure that can support them.

Customer Benefits and Choices

The automakers can't wait, so they are turning to more readily available technologies. Under the hood, both domestics and imports are adding direct-injection gasoline engines that work on a principle similar to modern, clean-burning diesels. Whether gasoline or diesel, direct-injection engines spritz fuel directly into the engine's combustion chambers, at enormous pressure and at computer-controlled intervals. The result is cleaner, more efficient burning.

The customer benefit is more power and lower air-polluting emissions from the same size engine, with no mileage penalty, or else the ability to switch to a smaller engine that uses less fuel, without sacrificing power. For instance, the direct-injection gasoline version of the 3.6-liter V6 in the Cadillac CTS generates 41 extra horsepower at 304 hp, while achieving the same highway mpg as the standard engine, and only one fewer mpg in city driving, according to EPA estimates.

For the 2009 model year this fall, General Motors (GM) is adding the 3.6-liter V6 with direct injection as an option for its crossover vehicles, the Saturn Outlook, Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave. In addition, GM already offers direct injection for the Cadillac STS, the Saturn Sky, and the Pontiac Solstice.