Jaguar wants to get rid of the combustion engine, but its sister brand Land Rover doesn't. So now lasers are going to save the technology.
The JRL group will keep the internal combustion engine alive using laser technology.
A new patent application from Jaguar Land Rover (JRL) describes a method using laser as ignition that could potentially reduce fuel consumption in gasoline engines.
While many car manufacturers have primarily focused their investments in recent years on the development of electric cars, work continues to optimize the traditional combustion engine.
The transition to full electrification will take time, if it is ever fully phased in, which is causing some car companies to continue developing existing engine technologies.
Ferrari has previously patented an engine with a different piston design and an inverted V6 engine that burns hydrogen in reverse, and JLR's patent on laser ignition is another example of the internal combustion engine not being completely dead.
Laser is a complicated and certainly expensive solution
The patent application from JRL describes a system where lasers are used to ignite fuel vapors at multiple points inside the internal combustion engine.
The purpose of the lasers is to initiate combustion of any unburned gasoline. In this way, JRL will create a cleaner, and therefore more efficient, combustion.
Carmoses writes.
The principle can be seen as a further development of systems with double spark plugs, which are found in certain engines.
In these engines, two spark plugs are used per cylinder to minimize the amount of unburned fuel.
Jaguar Land Rover hopes that laser technology can help reduce incomplete combustion and the occurrence of misfires in engines.
Although the concept of laser ignition may seem straightforward, the practical implementation is more complex.
The system consists of multiple laser units and optical components. It also describes how multiple lasers can potentially be activated simultaneously.
The patent application does not specify whether the engine will continue to use traditional spark plugs to supplement the laser.
However, it is possible that the lasers will act as a supplement to the igniters with the aim of igniting remaining unburned gasoline.
Another challenge that Jaguar Land Rover mentions is how to integrate and protect the sensitive laser technology and optics inside the engine itself – an environment characterized by vibrations, high temperatures and wear.
It's not like the technology is in place and production-ready just because the idea behind it is written down on a piece of paper.
It will probably be a while before new Land Rovers are equipped with laser ignition. And by then, the complicated technology will probably increase the price of the car. By how much, though, it is difficult to say with any certainty.
