How to invest in the future of engine technology
How to invest in the future of engine technology
With the breathtaking technological advancement of the 20th century, it’s surprising that the internal combustion engine (ICE) has seen little in the way of innovation. So little that most vehicles today are running on practically the same technology that powered automobiles over 100 years ago. But ICE innovation is coming soon thanks to LiquidPiston.
LiquidPiston is poised to introduce the X-Engine–based on a patented optimized thermodynamic cycle, powering a compact rotary engine, and paving the way to widespread use of a smaller, quieter and more efficient engine for a wide range of applications from portable electric power generators to hybrid electric propulsion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
With the potential to disrupt the $400B internal combustion engine market and having already garnered the attention of the US Military, LiquidPiston is looking for investors to help them truly take off.
As the first significant innovation in core engine technology in over a century, LiquidPiston’s X-Engines are up to 10x smaller & lighter and 30% more efficient than their diesel piston engine counterparts. With only two major moving parts, LiquidPiston engines present an inherently simpler, easier to maintain, and less metal per horsepower architecture compared to piston engines and a pathway to lower cost when manufactured in volume.
In recent years, the debate with respect to vehicle propulsion has centered around fossil fuels versus electricity, forcing experts to weigh trade-offs like fuel and energy efficiency, environmental impact, size and weight limitations and costs. While electric-only vehicles (EVs) present advantages like noise reduction and lower emissions, the electric energy required to charge the vehicle batteries still has to be generated somewhere (often from burning fossil fuels!) and transported to the charging location unless generated locally from renewable sources. Fossil fuels have 40x - 50x the energy density of current battery technology, which explains why vehicle batteries must be so big, heavy and expensive for reasonable drive time per charge. Plus, batteries have a high life-cycle energy cost to manufacture and eventually safely recycle or dispose of. Therefore, until the national electric grid can deliver much greater amounts of electric energy for EVs with a cleaner energy generation source and battery technology enables an energy density improvement of an order of magnitude or more, hybrid electric vehicle propulsion will continue to make the most operational and financial sense in many use cases across land, air and marine vehicles.
That’s where LiquidPiston comes in with a compact, high power density, multi-fuel capable engine to enable serial or parallel hybrid propulsion and power generation systems which are not only more efficient than their piston or small turbine engine predecessors, but also smaller and lighter. Simply put, using a Liquid Piston X-Engine in a hybrid electric configuration can reduce the size and weight of on-board batteries required by up to 80% or more. The fuel carried has so much more energy per pound of weight and can be burned to drive the electric generator to charge the batteries while the vehicle is being driven or flown.
So, what’s the secret?
HEHC, or the High Efficiency Hybrid Cycle. This is LiquidPiston’s patented optimized thermodynamic cycle that converts more of the energy contained in the fuel into useful work than traditional Otto (gasoline) and Diesel cycle engines do. This improved energy conversion results in less fuel used for the same work done or distance travelled, can enable a greater payload, or even use the same amount of fuel and achieve longer travel times.
This is important for the military as they are very concerned about “mission endurance” – for example, how long an Unmanned Aerial System can remain in the air to perform its mission. In fact, the Air Force recently awarded LiquidPiston with a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract in effort to support its Agility Prime program which seeks to utilize electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) to redefine commercial transportation. In addition to the Air Force, LiquidPiston has engaged in projects with the US Army as well as DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and has already established over $10M in Department of Defense and Aerospace contracts. But while the company has historically focused on military and aerospace markets, they already have an established presence compared to other engines and plan to enter industrial and commercial, marine, UAV, urban mobility and automotive markets in due time.
All that said, right now is arguably the best time to invest in LiquidPiston. With over 15 years of R&D in the making and having already achieved numerous partnerships across military and aerospace leaders, there’s no telling how proliferated this technology can become.
One thing is for sure: the future of LiquidPiston is extremely bright. Their engine technology is poised to disrupt the $400B internal combustion engine industry and has the potential to be a key enabler for emerging mobility and power generation solutions and even the broad adoption of electric vehicles. You can get in now and won’t have to invest millions of dollars to get your foot in the door.
About LiquidPiston
Based in Bloomfield, CT, LiquidPiston develops compact, powerful, quiet, efficient, low vibration, multi-fuel capable combustion engines that are scalable from 1HP to over 1000 HP. In addition to maintaining state-of-the-art laboratory facilities dedicated to developing and testing engines and supporting components, LiquidPiston has built two fully equipped dynamometer/test cells and laboratory test setups with instrumentation.
LiquidPiston is now offering shares to the public via a Regulation A+ Offering on StartEngine.
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