OBVIO! to License Rotoblock Oscillating Piston Engine for Flex-Fuel Hybrids
01 August 2006
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| A schematic of the Rotoblock design. Click to enlarge. |
Brazilian automotive company OBVIO! has signed a development and license agreement with Rotoblock Corporation for the development and incorporation of a more compact Oscillating Piston Engine—a toroidal internal combustion engine (earlier post)—into the OBVIO! 828, 012 and subsequent models.
OBVIO! has agreed to license Rotoblock’s technology for the Oscillating Piston Engine (OPE) in exchange for US$5 million, paid through a royalty agreement on each unit sold. Rotoblock would receive additional royalties after terms of the initial agreement have been met.
OBVIO! is in the process of manufacturing two microcars powered by traditional internal combustion engines and the company is interested in the OPE’s ability to be incorporated into an ethanol hybrid drive train projected for production. (Earlier post.)
Rotoblock constructed the current second generation OPE as a test model and will need joint efforts with OBVIO! to develop a more compact engine suitable for hybrid applications.
The third generation OPE would be lightweight and compact enough for hybrid applications. Its small size opens the engine compartment to the availability of additional battery space. We think the result will be a microsports car with a lot of muscle and the fact that the OPE can also use ethanol makes the engine the ideal candidate.
—OBVIO! President Ricardo Machado
A toroidal engine is one in which the power pistons rotate in a perfectly circular chamber with the drive shaft at the geometric center. (A torus is the doughnut-shaped surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle about an axis coplanar with the circle.)
One of the theoretical benefits of the design is a dramatic increase in power-to-weight ratio compared to a conventional reciprocating piston engine. The Rotoblock engine fires 16 times on one revolution of the crankshaft, compared to a V-8’s four times per crankshaft revolution, for example.
OBVIO! is also developing all-electric versions of its 828 and 012 models. (Earlier post.)
It will be interesting to see how the production versions perform with all appropriate emissions equipment.
Posted by: Patrick | 01 August 2006 at 09:17 AM
Most of these alternate kinematic engines were tinkered with over a hundred years ago using steam. The toroidal system combines the worst disadvantages of reciprocating and rotary designs with none of either's advantages.
Posted by: tom deplume | 01 August 2006 at 05:02 PM
I think it is an error on Obvio's part to spend more than one minute thinking about this engine at this stage in their development.
Posted by: John Schreiber | 02 August 2006 at 03:12 AM
We already had a successful, plug in, all electric vehicle in the USA....(EV1) in 1996, yet we are still debating over what type of fuel to use. With the new Lithium ion batteries and nano techs we should already have a plug in, all electric, vehicle with a range of 200+ miles. Its all a scam... the government and big business do not want efficient cars...there's no $$$ in it for them, why would they? What we need is a private company to start making affordable long range electric cars and when the time comes they need to hold the line and not sell out to the government or big business.
Posted by: This is all B.S. | 10 August 2006 at 01:18 AM
This is all B.S., thankyou for summing that up, for some reason I had missed the obvious link between taxation of power sources, government, and car manufacture. Now the pieces all fall into place.
We need a distributed power infrastructure and reliable cars that can run off it, which people can fix instead of throwing away, and government will never ever solve that. Oh shit.
Posted by: yibble yab | 11 August 2006 at 07:13 PM
This is all B.S., thankyou for summing that up, for some reason I had missed the obvious link between taxation of power sources, government, and car manufacture. Now the pieces all fall into place.
We need a distributed power infrastructure and reliable cars that can run off it, which people can fix instead of throwing away, and government will never ever solve that. Oh shit!
Posted by: yibble yab | 11 August 2006 at 07:13 PM
Like it or not, most American households will always require at lease on non pure electric vehicle. ie hybrid, diesle, etc. I live in MI and 60+% of households have boats, campers, snowmobiles, dirtbikes and the like that have to be trailered. Those that don't still often go on 200+ mile one way drives for vacation and the like. Pure EV's are only ever going to be effective as second cars for the most part.
That being said, I don't know why they'd license an experimental engine design, rather than something like a wankel rotary with proven history behind it.
If they want to persue an experimental generator setup they should look at some of the external combustion inline sterling altenator designs, at least they give the advantage of low maint, and complete flex fuel capability.
Posted by: John | 24 August 2006 at 09:27 AM
Obvio's greenhorn status is apparent in their grossly misguided decision to pursue the Rotoblock.
As for 'This is all BS' and yibble yab - your conspiracy theorist roots are showing. The EV1 went down in flames on its merits and cost GM a billion $'s. All because of CA's misguided zero emission % mandate. So the facts aren't on your side. Big gov't persuaded big business to attempt to defy the state of technology and the laws of economics and they took a bath. That's the hard facts - 180 degrees from your unsupported (and unsupportable) opinion.
Posted by: Kyle | 25 August 2006 at 12:10 PM
yeah, poor little gm, lol.
they just had to can a cheap lo margin car they got paid zip to maintain (no brakes or exhaust needed), and had an 80,000 strong list for customers with the crappiest PR ads ever. They took the few cars they let out for evaluation back from their leasees, who universally wanted to buy or extend their lease, denying them millions of revenues with no added cost, and crushed them in a secret location in the desert.
at the same time, ex gm VP Andy Card (chief of staff of president bozo) pushed through tax deductions for 100,000 dollar Hummers with very high margins.
oh, yeah, poor GM.
Posted by: george rather | 01 September 2006 at 04:12 PM
SO... IF OBVIO HAS A COOL CAR WITH A NEAT NEW ENGINE THAT WORKS AND IS LIGHTER AND MORE POWERFULL AND IT'S TRENDY AND IT SAVES MONEY SOMEWHAT AND GETS BETTER MPG AND EVERYONE WANTS ONE AND THEY MARKET IT RIGHT... WHY NOT BUY SOME STOCK NOW... SO I CAN AFFORD A SOLAR SYSTEM FOR MY HOUSE LATER AND WHATEVER ELSE I WANT TO DO? THINK OF THE BIG PICTURE. A MEANS TO AN END. OBVIO IS A CAR COMPANY AND THEY WANT TO MAKE MONEY, NOT SAVE THE WORLD. THEY ARE BEING SMART AND CATERING TO A TREND OF THE TIMES AND WILL PROBABLY DO VERY WELL.. I'LL BE INVESTING A LITTLE AND HOPING I'M RIGHT!
Posted by: BILLY BOB | 16 January 2007 at 06:00 AM