I can’t explain it any better than this guy so I’m just pasting the whole article, but chalk this up to some outside of the box thinkers

Axial Vector Engine Corporation (AVEC) announced that on Thursday, September 14, they were able to fire-up and produce power on their prototype engine, the Workhorse 7.1. The great significance is that this is the very first time a diesel engine has ever run using a sinusoidal cam instead of a traditional crankshaft.

I did a little digging online and was surprised I didn’t quickly come across a good description of the Workhorse 7.1 or at least an animation of a crankshaftless, sinusoidal cam engine in action. I believe the basic theory, though, is that instead of converting the linear motion of a piston into rotational motion through a crankshaft, this engine would use a “floating” piston that “rests” on top of a large cam shaft (not to be confused with the cam shafts that are used to open and close the cylinder valves). The shape of the cam is calculated to maximize efficiency and power redirection from the up and down motion of the piston into rotational power to the wheels. If anyone’s got any info or links, I’d love to see it.

In any case, AVEC is expecting the Workhorse 7.1 to get 40 percent better mileage and a 50-80 percent reduction in pollutants when compared to an equivalent traditional engine.

[Source: Axial Vector Engine Corporation]

So normal diesels get about 20-30% better mileage than a comparably sized gasser and this gets 40% better mileage than a diesel so that means it gets…..uhhhh…..a whole hell of a lot better mileage than a gasser!  Also imagine how much smaller and lighter it is.

Biodiesel is getting to be all the rage in Truckee for government, businesses and people.  They all list different reasons for their use whether it be political, environmental, or just good for the vehicle.

For some biodiesel users, like Solar Wind Works owner Chris Worcester, the choice has its grounding in geopolitics.

“A lot less people are dying over french fries than oil,” said Worcester. 

Tal Fletcher, owner of Mountain Cab, Squaw Valley Taxi, and Truckee Taxi, said that aside from the obvious environmental reasons for running biodiesel, he uses it two of his cabs because “the car actually prefers it.”

“My understanding is that the original diesel engine was designed to run on vegetable oil,” Fletcher said.

“It’s better for the car, it supports American farmers, I don’t see a good reason for anybody with a diesel engine not to use it,” Fletcher said.

Biodiesel, while not as efficient as petroleum based diesel, does have a better lubricity which makes life for the engine easier.  Some have even reported an increase in mileage.

When asked about maintenance and performance concerns, he said he had been getting one to one and a half miles per gallon better than normal diesel, it had cleaned out the fueling systems, and better lubricated the engines.

Between the two vehicles Fletcher has gone about 40,000 miles on biodiesel, and had nothing but good things to say.

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