Cleaner mobility, aided by the electrified powertrain, has been the subject of intense discussion and debate world over. Most developed and many developing countries have committed to completely do away with fossil fuel-based, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles over the next couple of decades. Of course, this has led many companies to completely overhaul their business strategies. It is interesting that, in such times, there are companies that wholeheartedly believe in the sizeable opportunity in improving vehicle efficiency and reducing emissions.
One such company is the Silicon Valley-based, 12-year-old, Tula Technology, which specializes in controls technology to optimize propulsion efficiency across vehicle segments and energy domains – petrol, diesel, hybrids, electrics, and other alternative fuels.
Tula’s genesis is in itself a fascinating story. Adya Tripathi, the company’s founder, and Chairman, had a background in digital audio amplification technologies. Tripathi did not really know much about internal combustion engines, but the fundamentals and was just convinced that the control algorithms from the consumer electronics space could apply very well in the automotive engine domain. The result: a combined team of digital consumer electronics engineers and automotive powertrain controls engineers, who have made Tula’s proprietary diesel skip fire (DSF) technology a potential winner world over.
All of Tula’s early work was focussed on ICEs, particularly on spark-ignited petrol engines with an objective to derive improved fuel efficiency and CO 2 reduction. The company broadened its focus in the last few years to include diesel engines, with the primary aim to reduce emissions. The diesel dynamic skip fire (DDSF) is a result of all that effort.
This story is from the June 2020 edition of Auto Tech Review.
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This story is from the June 2020 edition of Auto Tech Review.
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