The New Split-Cycle Engine

Even with advances in batteries and fuel cells, most of us will probably be driving something with an internal combustion engine in it for the foreseeable future. That’s one of the reasons a new kind of internal combustion engine being tested by the Scuderi Group is so intriguing.

The concept is a new take on the split-cycle engine, an old idea for dividing the work performed by a standard four-stroke engine cylinder between two paired cylinders. Historically, this has never been very efficient, but before his death in 2002 a Massachusetts inventor named Carmelo Scuderi may have figured out a way to make split-cycles work that is twice as efficient as a conventional engine.

Prototypes are in development, and major automakers are in talks with the Scuderi Group right now, but it will probably be some time before you can expect to see this at your local dealer.