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The engine that runs today's cars and trucks, an internal combustion engine, has more or less stayed the same since it was first invented over a hundred years ago. For decades, engineers have tried to improve the engine, without significantly increasing costs.

The homogeneous charge compression ignition, or HCCI engine does just this. It runs more efficiently and also creates less toxic emissions. It does so by burning the fuel with a flameless combustion, and it's not triggered by a spark plug like the internal combustion engines are.

This is even important for hybrid vehicles, as most of them have an internal combustion engine and many of them are gasoline powered. By swapping out the existing engine with an HCCI one, it can improve fuel efficiency by more than fifteen percent. It will also help reduce dependence on foreign sources of oil. Auto manufactures say they hope to have a production model ready in the near future.

Produced for General Motors