Tula Technology, Inc., a tech leader in improving propulsion efficiency and reducing emissions in passenger cars and commercial vehicles, announced that the one-millionth vehicle utilizing its award-winning Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) technology (earlier post) was produced in November 2020.

Unlike cylinder deactivation strategies that shut off a fixed number of cylinders, DSF makes dynamic firing decisions every 90 degrees of crank angle on a V8 (180 degrees on a 4 cylinder engine) based on how much torque is requested.

The result is that the engine dynamically fires the optimal number of cylinders to maximize fuel economy while maintaining a smooth ride with commercial levels of noise and vibration.

Because each combustion event is selected to allow optimal efficiency, DSF reduces fuel and CO₂, and for diesel applications, NO_x emissions.

Tula’s proprietary technology is being used in the top-selling Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado and Suburban, and the GMC Sierra and Yukon. In aggregate, DSF on these one million vehicles prevents up to one million tons of CO₂ from being emitted annually when compared to conventional V8 engines.

Tula partners with OEMs to provide a transformational bridge to a future of clean, efficient automotive propulsion. Following the success of its control philosophy in DSF, Tula’s engineers have developed diesel DSF (dDSF) (earlier post), which has been proven to reduce NO_x and CO₂ emissions in diesel-powered vehicles, and Dynamic Motor Drive (DMD), which maintains electric motor operation near peak efficiency, allowing for extended range, reduced battery requirements, and motor cost reductions for electric vehicles.

Tula’s fundamental controls philosophy is to eliminate efficiency losses by operating engines and motors always at their optimal efficiency point on an intermittent basis.

DMD, for example, uses pulses of motor operation at high motor efficiency to deliver requested torque. By modulating torque in this manner, the motor operates at its “sweet spot”, minimizing efficiency losses.

GM Ventures was an early investor in Tula and a development partner for Tula’s DSF technology, known as Dynamic Fuel Management (DFM) in GM applications.

Tula’s first DSF innovation reached proof of concept internally in 2011 and with GM in 2014. The company has global scale, engaging with OEMs in the US, Europe, and Asia to launch the production of numerous models in both the passenger and commercial markets in the coming years.