GM To Build New V8 Engine
General Motors (GM) has recently announced plans to invest $22 million into its Spring Hill Tennessee plant to build a new variant of V8 engine for the company’s large pickups and SUVs.
GM has made claims in regards to their new engine that it will have Dynamic Fuel Management (DFM) technology. It is said that this is the industry’s first cylinder deactivation tech. Which makes it both new and innovative, as it can operate in seventeen different cylinder patterns in order to optimize performance. Interestingly enough, the engine will only activate the cylinders needed for the job at hand.
In the long run, this has amazing potential to reduce emissions for the environment. For example, if it is done correctly, it will not burn extra fuel for the average person driving in the city, since, for all intents and purposes, they are likely not going to be using turbo on city streets.
According to Mary Barra, the CEO of GM, “this investment will enable our Spring Hill team to continue building our award-winning engines enhanced with technology that will improve fuel efficiency and performance for our customers,” as reported by Automotive News Europe, the fuel efficiency of the new engine could be 6.2 liters.
As good as it is that these new GM engines will help curb some of the emissions damaging the planet there remains one sizable obstacle in GM’s way — electric vehicles. Cities are trying, more and more, to push its citizens towards not using combustion engine vehicles as they are clearly harmful to the environment. And with the addition of monetary fees creeping up against those that drive emission vehicles, life for gas powered vehicles is getting more and more difficult, while favoring those that drive electric powered vehicles. For GM specifically, they are going to need to find a way to convince people to buy any new products that they plan on introducing that could be harmful to the environment. While introducing environmentally friendly options for their newer vehicles could help in convincing people to buy their products, it might still be a bit of an uphill battle.
Overall, GM’s new engine technology definitely has potential, but it really depends on how it is executed and how effective it really is. While many governments are trying to push people towards more environmentally friendly options, we have no doubt that GM’s hardcore fans of their line of pick-ups and SUV’s will at the very least give this new product a try.
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