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Diesel Tundra or Tacoma? Could this Patent from Toyota Suggest a High Compression Gas OR Diesel Engine?

Can Toyota reinvent the combustion engine?

This patent may be for a high compression gas or diesel engine

Initially filed on December 2019, U.S. patent (US20200208601) was made public on July 2nd, 2020. The patent indicates that Toyota is developing an engine that uses high compression for enhanced performance and reduced emissions. We don’t know if it’s a gas or diesel engine.

I’ll try to avoid going through the minutia of how high compression work. It’s easiest to say that more power is exacted by the engine with minimum use of fuel. More force is exerted on the piston, which is higher on the compression stroke than normal. This creates additional push on the expansion stroke, creating more power without burning additional fuel.

This technology is not new, diesels have used it for years and gas engines now use it often. In addition to the extra power (which means less fuel usage for power, thus less consumption) the system burns very clean.

“Smoke?”

In the patent, one of the notations states that the process they are creating will mitigate smoke. We believe that is a reference to exhaust gases. Now, that’s what caught our attention. This is where it could mean a diesel engine, which is intriguing.

First of all, Toyota already builds high compression gas engines. The Dynamic Force Engines used in a variety of four-cylinder vehicles. It has a proven track record for power and efficiency. They, along with Mazda and other automakers, have proven the benefits of high compression over the long run.