Though it was invented in the 1800s and worked well mechanically, the Stirling engine didn’t really go anywhere. Steam and combustion engines obviously took the spotlight. Even after NASA studied the engine a bit in the 80s and achieved over 50 miles per gallon with it, the design still didn’t catch on. Seeing its potential, a guy named Josh MacDowell used modern knowhow with the Stirling engine and has apparently gotten it up to 100mpg. It’ll be tested soon and we’ll see what happens from there. In the meantime, if you need a new engine for your Mercedes you can click here.
Josh “Mac” MacDowell of San Antonio Texas had a brilliant idea. He took a Stirling engine, a type of engine developed 200 years ago, and added some 21st-century technology to it. The result is a hybrid electric car so efficient that you never have to stop to recharge, reports Houston’s KHOU11.
The centerpiece of MacDowell’s innovation is the Stirling engine, which was created in 1816. The closed-cycle air engine uses the expansion of hot air and the compression of cold air to generate the power needed to drive an engine. Unlike steam engines which utilize a similar principal, the Stirling engine has an internal regenerative heat exchanger that keeps the hot and cold air at the correct temperature. This recycling feature boosts the engine’s efficiency to a whopping 50 percent. For comparison, a standard internal combustion engine operates only at 14 percent efficiency. Continue Reading
