Internal combustion engines will, for the first time, go head to head with electric powertrains for the ‘International Engine of the Year’ award.
In a seeming contradiction, some of this year’s winners could in fact be electric powertrains powering the first electric cars to reach the market.
Each year, the judging panel for the International Engine of the Year Awards assesses every new engine-or for that matter electric powertrain- that has come to the market in the last twelve months to judge whether they can take on and beat the established leaders in the individual class categories.
Dean Slavnich, editor of Engine Technology International and co-chairman of the International Engine of the Year Awards, says: "The most interesting aspect of this year’s awards is the degree to which new electric powertrains from manufacturers such as Nissan and Mitsubishi are in a head to head battle with new and increasingly clever small capacity internal combustion engines, such as Fiat’s 875cc two-cylinder ‘TwinAir’ engine and VW’s now well-established TSi ‘TwinCharger’ unit. The results of this year’s competition will be fascinating."
The awards, now in their 13th year, consists of eleven awards categories plus the coveted prize of International Engine of the Year award. The categories are Best New Engine of the Year, Green Engine of the Year, Best Performance Engine, Sub 1-litre, 1-litre to 1.4-litre, 1.4-litre to 1.8-litre, 1.8-litre to 2-litre, 2-litre to 2.5-litre, 2.5-litre to 3-litre, 3-litre to 4-litre and Above 4-litre.
Elsewhere in the awards, the higher-capacity engine categories have seen the German marques of BMW, Mercedes and Audi, put in yet another dominant performance. BMW in particular is represented in eight of the category shortlists, often with more than one engine shortlisted in a given category.
The 2011 International Engine of the Year Award will be presented at Engine Expo in Stuttgart, Germany on May 18th.
