mx5cartalk.com

Freevalve Miata Build part 1 of 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ljwk-ByvjI

I haven't followed any of that stuff for at least 20 years, so it's a bit of a shock to see that digital control of valve lift and timing can be built from cheap off-the-shelf components now.

I've just had a quick glance at it now. Would power gains would be similar to turbo but with significant improvements in spread and drivability, along with fuel consumption benefits?

Pity it's all coming in the dying years of ICE. Probably never see mass implementation?

Interesting. You'd think big and small automakers would have done research (Mr K Egg does it).

Reliability??

Durability??

Part 2 is up. It's running and driving!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E9KJ_f7REGw

Hopefully in a few years there will be bolt on kits for this tech.
The benefit of infinite timing adjustment is the major selling point.
Better economy, more power, less heat, less friction, less noise, longer oil change intervals etc etc.

For it to happen you really need a major car manufacturer to do it as their parts will be thoroughly tested.
Once an OEM starts making parts the aftermarket can then adapt those parts to other applications.
For example how many people out there now run GM E85 fuel flex sensors or GM LS coils.

I don't know about the ICE dying in Australia though.
I don't think the Australian power grid is up to the task of everyone going to electric cars any time soon.
And I don't see our braindead governments looking to really invest in major base load power systems either so the long term doesn't look much better for mass electric cars. They are far to busy worrying who had sex with who, how we can find new ways to fine people and what border to close next.
They just ran power stations into the ground and flogged them off to foreign owners who will further flog them underground.
https://www.energy.gov.au/data/electricity-generation#:~:text=Total%20electricity%20generation%20in%20Australia%20in%202019%20was%20around%20265%20TWh.&text=Fossil%20fuels%20contributed%2079%25%20of,%2C%20and%20solar%20(7%25).
Government website to see our current power production, use etc.
Don't be mislead by some graphs though. SA and TAS for example show they don't use coal. Um year right. They get power from Victoria.

Geez Luke,

What started out as an optimistic post about camless technology turned into quite the rant, with a couple of tangents....

Anyway, like Arthur Jackson (see the comments in the Youtube video) I am not yet convinced that running an air compressor to drive the valves is a net benefit. I understand the advantages of infinitely variable vale timing, but will that advantage overcome the power being sapped to drive the compressor? And the fuel used? I assume that fully electric dríven valves would be more efficient, but I am not sure such a thing will ever exist.

But with lots of others being so optimistic I don't have to risk it myself to find out, luckily. I wonder how many pistons will crash into valves in the quest by others to do so? Find out, that is.

PS:

Renewable energy is now producing more than 1/3 of the electrical energy produced by coal fired PS. And solar output is growing at 45% per year; more than doubling every two years.

And while TAS and SA do import energy from VIC, they also export to VIC with renewable energy.
https://www.energy.gov.au/publications/australian-energy-statistics-table-o-electricity-generation-fuel-type-2018-19-and-2019

Projections show that most of our energy in Australia will be sourced renewably by 2028. By 2050 it all will be.
https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/download?pid=csiro:EP183813&dsid=DS8

Don't get me wrong, I'm an IC guy. But for how long will I be StillIC, before becoming NowEV?

Yes, but what happens on a perfect still night with solar and wind?
In Tasmania's case, drought is also a big problem as you need water to spin those hydro turbines. Been to TAS during drought and the power supply is rubbish. Lights flicker with the Voltage fluctuating.
Tidal has cycles. We don't even really have this in Aus which is weird considering how much coastline we have.
Geothermal is located in the middle of no where so needs long feeders back to the people.
The problem with the renewables is still baseload requirements.
It can be done if you over build everything with way more than capacity then required, but will require a more complex electrical grid for power sharing then we have now.
Battery's are a so called solution as well. I would love to see what happens when one of those fail and leak. Its bad enough with AAA's in a remote control, when something goes wrong.


BTW I need to beat down on this green world so I can keep burning dinosaurs for as long as possible. Every naysayer can contribute to help the cause.

Wonder when Part 3 of the video comes out.
Freevalve 60's F1 Car/Porsche/Mercedes V12. Would not surprise me if he try's adapting it to that project. Although that will be a costly mistake if it goes wrong so maybe not.

Luke wrote:Yes, but what happens on a perfect still night with solar and wind?

1 GW battery for starters...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-05/plans-unveiled-for-worlds-biggest-battery-in-hunter-valley/13124814

Plus another 100,000 batteries already installed in homes in Australia. That provides about another 0.5 GW.

Plus whatever number of EVs that will be plugged into the grid in the future.

And there is no such thing as a perfectly still night everywhere. Eastern Australia has the longest electrical grid in the world. It is always windy on that grid somewhere.

Get ready for the future.