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It sounds like they ran it on straight ethanol. This isn't new or news. Many production cars can run on straight E in good weather. The mileage claim doesn't ma

It sounds like they ran it on straight ethanol. This isn't new or news. Many production cars can run on straight E in good weather. The mileage claim doesn't make sense though because ethanol is less energy dense than gasoline. It'd be nice if this blogspam linked to the source so we could verify details.

etskinner 4y ago
I too was frustrated that they didn't say what the fuel was. It led me to believe that it's ethanol too. They just didn't want people to see the article as the nothing burger that it is. I looked at several other sources covering this and they're all similarly quiet about what the fuel actually is. Looking at they supplier's (Coryton's) website, they boast about 'bespoke' synthetic fuels. So I'm guessing it's Mazda that's being shy about the details.
- hasmanean 4y ago
  Yup. The "innovation" here is in the car, not the fuel. There is another engine design, a linear piston engine, which is just a piston connected to a magnet and coil. The engine generates electricity (at a constant speed, constant load) and this is fed to an electric motor. So the car is a hybrid. It's more efficient than a regular engine (which turns a large crankshaft etc.) and the fuel probably can be more finicky since the combustion cycle can be tuned for one operating point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-piston_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-piston_engine
CrazyStat 4y ago
Coryton (the fuel supplier) has a PR post [1] about it with a few more details. Their Sustain fuel is "blended bioethanol and biogasoline" [2]. Sustain 100% might mean either it's 100% bioethanol or 100% biogasoline, I haven't been able to find anything saying what the percentage means. [1] https://coryton.com/lab/news/mazda-using-sustain-100-per-cent-fossil-free-fuel/ https://coryton.com/lab/news/mazda-using-sustain-100-per-cen... [2] https://coryton.com/sustain/ https://coryton.com/sustain/
- MuffinFlavored 4y ago
  what goes into making bioethanol other than corn? what goes into making biogasoline?
davewritescode 4y ago
Believe it or not most passenger cars won’t run on ethanol unmodified these days. Even running on 50 or 80% ethanol blends usually requires custom ECU maps to run. Let’s not even talk about all the things in the fuel system that seem to have a shorter life with ethanol involved, particularly injectors.
- MuffinFlavored 4y ago
  you need to spray 30% more fuel if it’s ethanol than if it’s gasoline, no?
silisili 4y ago
To add to this...hasn't Brazil been producing cars capable of running on pure ethanol for the last two decades?

etskinner 4y ago

I too was frustrated that they didn't say what the fuel was. It led me to believe that it's ethanol too. They just didn't want people to see the article as the nothing burger that it is. I looked at several other sources covering this and they're all similarly quiet about what the fuel actually is. Looking at they supplier's (Coryton's) website, they boast about 'bespoke' synthetic fuels. So I'm guessing it's Mazda that's being shy about the details.

hasmanean 4y ago
Yup. The "innovation" here is in the car, not the fuel. There is another engine design, a linear piston engine, which is just a piston connected to a magnet and coil. The engine generates electricity (at a constant speed, constant load) and this is fed to an electric motor. So the car is a hybrid. It's more efficient than a regular engine (which turns a large crankshaft etc.) and the fuel probably can be more finicky since the combustion cycle can be tuned for one operating point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-piston_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-piston_engine

CrazyStat 4y ago

Coryton (the fuel supplier) has a PR post [1] about it with a few more details. Their Sustain fuel is "blended bioethanol and biogasoline" [2]. Sustain 100% might mean either it's 100% bioethanol or 100% biogasoline, I haven't been able to find anything saying what the percentage means. [1] https://coryton.com/lab/news/mazda-using-sustain-100-per-cent-fossil-free-fuel/ https://coryton.com/lab/news/mazda-using-sustain-100-per-cen... [2] https://coryton.com/sustain/ https://coryton.com/sustain/

MuffinFlavored 4y ago
what goes into making bioethanol other than corn? what goes into making biogasoline?

davewritescode 4y ago

Believe it or not most passenger cars won’t run on ethanol unmodified these days. Even running on 50 or 80% ethanol blends usually requires custom ECU maps to run. Let’s not even talk about all the things in the fuel system that seem to have a shorter life with ethanol involved, particularly injectors.

MuffinFlavored 4y ago
you need to spray 30% more fuel if it’s ethanol than if it’s gasoline, no?

silisili 4y ago

To add to this...hasn't Brazil been producing cars capable of running on pure ethanol for the last two decades?