By AUSTIN HALL
The automotive world has produced different types of alternative engines, to keep humans from depleting all the earth’s fossil fuels. The biggest three are the all-electric motor, the Flex Fuel motor and Ford EcoBoost engine.
The electric motor is self-explanatory. The motor runs entirely off electricity. It comes with a charger that one can install wherever one parks their car, and must be plugged in to charge the batteries. The car relies on the batteries to function
The upsides of this car are obvious: one will save a ton of money since it is no longer a necessity, and will not stomp a bigger hole in the O-zone layer with a carbon footprint (delaying the melting of the ice caps and thermal expansion of the ocean, which will ultimately engulf the human race in a watery grave).
The one big downside is that it isn’t sufficient for long distance traveling. The completely electric Ford Focus has an average range of 76 miles on one charge. Owners will need to find a charging station with a direct current charge, it will take close to 30 minutes to fully charge the car. That is a lot longer than filling up a car with gasoline.
The second engine is the Flex Fuel engine. The Flex Fuel engine is an engine that can run off of E85 or gasoline. E85 is a blend of the alcohol-based fuel ethanol (85 percent) and gasoline (15 percent). According to the Environmental Protection Agency, E85 produces less carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide fumes. Even though this is good for mother earth, E85 can drop ones fuel economy by as much as 4 miles per gallon, which is not good for one’s bank account. The choice is whether or not the environment is worth the price.
The last engine is Ford Motor Company’s EcoBoost engine. The EcoBoost has two main functions that make it a more efficient engine than a normal combustion engine.
It is direct injected, meaning that fuel is basically sprayed into the cylinders at a high pressure, which causes a bigger explosion in the cylinder. More power is expelled with less fuel being used, therefore reducing down the amount of gas used.
Another feature is that the EcoBoost engine is turbo charged. The turbo feeds off the exhaust. Exhaust fumes have a lot of energy and when those fumes are pushed through the turbo, it spins a turbine. This turbine sucks in air and pushes it back through the engine at high pressures. The air is then fed into the cylinders; highly pressurized air is richer in oxygen. More oxygen makes for a bigger bang in the cylinder, therefore creating more power with less fuel, raising its fuel economy.
All these engines are huge leaps forward in the race to find an alternative fuel sources, or at least slowing down our rate of consumption. Each has a different way of maximizing power and efficiency, and all of them are applicable solutions to our little environment problem.