The 5 most-read automotive stories of 2021

Our expectations of what a car ought to provide are constantly evolving. Not too long ago, features such as lane assist systems and automated parking would have seemed like science fiction, but now we are used to them. The car of tomorrow is likely to bring even more radical changes, as some of the top stories this year showed – ‘X-ray style’ vision capabilities, for example.

Here are the five most-read Professional Engineering automotive stories of 2021. Click on the links throughout to read the whole articles.   

Bosch and Weichai Power boost diesel engine thermal efficiency 

The shift to electric has started, and new petrol and diesel passenger vehicle and van sales will soon be banned in the UK – but that does not tell the whole story, wrote James Scoltock in the most-read automotive story this year.  

For larger vehicles, diesel engines remain one of the most efficient power-sources, and Bosh and Weichai Power demonstrated that advances are still being made, as they increased their engine’s thermal efficiency from 46% to 50%. Changes to the combustion technology optimised the design of the air passage, fuel injection, combustion chamber profile and other systems to make the air-fuel mix in the combustion chamber more refined. 

Car gets X-ray style vision 

An autonomous vehicle can see pedestrians and cyclists hidden behind buildings and other vehicles thanks to a new system providing ‘X-ray style vision’. Developed by researchers at the University of Sydney and Australian company Cohda Wireless, the technology combines live data from roadside stations and other vehicles to highlight hidden road users. 

Ultra-fast charging and hydrogen lorries get £91m government funding 

Projects focused on ultra-fast charging of electric vehicles and hydrogen engines for lorries benefited from a share of £91m new government funding this year. Project Celeritas in Birmingham is creating ultra-fast charging for battery-electric and fuel cell hybrid vehicles, targeting 12-minute charges, while the Brunel project in Darlington is developing a ‘novel’ hydrogen-fuelled engine to help decarbonise heavy goods vehicles.  

Williams Advanced Engineering goes off road with extreme electrification 

Roughly 10 years after the formation of Williams Advanced Engineering, the motorsport engineering specialist is supplying batteries for four separate electric racing championships, including off-road and endurance series. This is the story of how it got an ‘incredible’ head start – and how its technology could have a much wider impact. 

Lewis Hamilton tackles barriers for black students 

A report from Sir Lewis Hamilton and the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) identified at least six barriers to potential black recruits to engineering and motorsport, and provided 10 recommendations to help remove them.  

“While I have enjoyed a successful career in motorsport, it’s been a lonely path as one of the few black individuals within Formula One and, after 15 years of waiting for the industry to catch up, I realised I had to take action myself,” said Hamilton.  

Tomorrow: the five most-read biomedical stories of the year.

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