Gates and Khosla give lean engine a cash injection

Opoc engine: Could achieve 50 per cent greater fuel and emissions efficiency

Technology gurus turned venture capitalists Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla have invested a combined $23.5m in EcoMotors. This will enable the company to complete development and testing of its Opoc engine.

Opoc – opposed piston, opposed cylinder – is essentially a two-stroke engine which is half the size and weight of a conventional internal combustion engine of comparable output and can thus achieve up to 50 per cent greater fuel efficiencies with commensurate emission reductions. It uses many fewer moving parts than conventional engines, which makes it cheaper to manufacture, operate and maintain.

The opoc engine is a suitable replacement for conventional engines in any application, says EcoMotors, including land, marine and air transport, agriculture and auxiliary power generation.

Securing this series-B exclusive funding is a big step towards commercialising the Opoc technology, EcoMotors chief executive Don Runkle said in a statement.

Runkle is a former vice president of engineering at General Motors where he led development of GM’s EV1 electric car. EcoMotors chairman and chief technical officer, professor Peter Hofbauer was responsible for designing Volkswagen’s high-speed diesel engine, the power train for the Jetta Clean Diesel that was voted 2009 Green Car of the Year.