Engine

A custom designed single cylinder, four-stroke internal combustion engine running on gasoline powers the vehicle. The conserve fuel, the engine is operated at wide open throttle for a short burst then switched off to let the vehicle coast. This cycle is repeated in what’s called a “burn and coast” method. There were four primary objectives when designing the engine: improvement in cold-starting transient performance, a high compression ratio without engine knock, the use of a low fuel to air ratio without misfire, and minimization of mechanical friction.

The single-cylinder engine, despite having the displacement of only 2% of that of a small family sedan, makes use of overhead cams, a 16.5:1 compression ratio, electronic fuel injection, and two spark plugs. Where conventional automobile engines are cooled, our engine is insulated in order to keep the engine warm to increase fuel vaporization and decrease heat loss.