Glenn Brooks interviews the man who heads up the team behind what is claimed to be the world’s cleanest non-electric vehicle, the new Kia Rio EcoDynamics.
j-a: Hyundai Motor Europe and Kia Motors Europe are run as separate businesses. But you head up powertrain development for both?
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CP: That is correct. Even though to the customer we are two brands, for powertrain, the share of parts is very high. That does not mean that everything is identical but for example, the architecture of the engines is more or less identical.
j-a: How many engineers do you have working at Rüsselsheim?
JH: At Rüsselsheim we are about 250 engineers and in powertrain, we are about 70.
j-a: Kia has just launched a new Rio in Europe powered by a small diesel engine that we haven’t seen in any other Hyundai or Kia vehicle. Did your team develop it?
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By GlobalDataJH: We work on both combustions –gasoline as well as on diesel, but the new three-cylinder, yes, that is something that we are very proud of. As the European development centre, diesel engines are something that we naturally focus on.
j-a: What can you tell us about the new diesel?
JH: The new U2 engine has a capacity of 1.1 litres and this is the engine in the Rio which achieves only 85g per kilometre of Co2 in the special EcoDynamics version of the car. This is a new record for low Co2.
j-a: How much of that Co2 number is down to the engine and how much to tweaks made to the car itself?
JH: To achieve the low Co2 goal, different things had to be done. For the car, that means better aerodynamics, low rolling resistance tyres, a general weight reduction and of course, the most efficient powertrain that we could develop. And for the engine, that means low-friction components.
The high efficiency which the U2 achieves starts at the top of the engine, with special valve springs, we also have coatings on the piston rings, and then a balancer shaft which is shaped so as to avoid any splashing losses.
j-a: Are there other mechanical factors which help the car to reach such a low Co2 number?
JH. Yes. The alternator has a specific flywheel which decouples from the drivebelt, which enables us to reduce the pre-load from the tensioner; we have a new injection system with a peak pressure of 1,800 bar, and of course the turbocharger is very important too – we have a very small turbocharger which allows better low-end torque. This is very important as the torque figure of 170Nm @ 1,500rpm works very well with the car’s elongated gear ratios.
j-a: You mentioned the turbo. Are there innovations with the design?
JH: Contrary to the conventional solution – the exhaust manifold, then a flange, then the turbocharger – with the U2 the manifold and turbocharger are one unit. The benefits are that the restrictions in geometry are much less, we also have a much better flow from the exhaust manifold, we have less thermal losses, and last but not least we even saved some 100g of weight.
j-a: Which company supplies the turbo unit?
JH: BorgWarner.
j-a: And the U2 engine, is it made in Europe or in South Korea?
JH: In Korea. We do produce engines in Europe, at our plant in Slovakia, but the new small diesel is not built there. We make the big brother of the U2 in Slovakia; this we call the U3 series, which is available as a 1.4- or a 1.6-litre diesel, and also the Gamma family which is a 1.4- or a 1.6-litre gasoline engine.
j-a: Kia used to offer the old 1.1-litre diesel in the Picanto but when the new-shape model was launched, that engine was dropped. Why not make the new U2 available in that car?
JH: Yes, it’s true that the smallest car we sell with a diesel engine is the Rio. In the A segment where we compete with the Picanto, cost is very important to the customer, and that was the factor which made us decide not to offer a diesel in that car.
j-a: Where is Hyundai-Kia on Euro 6 engine development?
JH: We are working hard for Euro 6 compliance and the main challenge is particulates. In the last two years, we have had to invest a lot of money to count the number of particles within the (combustion) cycle. As you will know, there is a lot of downsizing underway with gasoline engines plus direct injection and turbocharging.
I would also make one other important point: for Euro 6, technical solutions might not be the final market solution. I point this out as a couple of years ago when we switched from Euro 4 to Euro 5 there was a lot of discussion over particle filters. Now we see that it might be possible to achieve Euro 6 for gasoline engines without filters.
j-a: Will we see gas-powered hybrid cars from Hyundai and Kia in Europe? Fiat, for example, does well with its ‘Natural Power’ methane/petrol engines in Italy.
JH: We are already the world’s biggest manufacturer of LPG engines. In Korea, 100 percent of taxis run on gas, plus we sell a propane-gasoline hybrid vehicle there too, the Kia Forte LPI Hybrid. So we have a number of solutions in other markets which is all I can say.
j-a: How closely do you work with Hyundai and Kia powertrain divisions in other regions?
JH: We have very good relations with them. For example, there is regular communication with our centre in Ann Arbor (Michigan) for diesel technology – this is to do with a change in the minds of many customers in the North American market towards diesel as a fuel. Our colleagues in the US are also very interested in what we have here with stop-start systems as that is a new technology for their market.
j-a: Honda already offers the Jazz Hybrid in Europe and soon Toyota will be building a petrol-electric Yaris in France. What is your view of small hybrids?
JH: Hyundai and Kia offer the Sonata and Optima Hybrids in North America and in Europe there is also the diesel engine as the solution for a low Co2 average. I think that we are more likely to launch a hybrid in the C segment.
