Kevin Duffield, North Carolina State University, Department of History

The decades following World War II saw tremendous growth in the research and development of alternative engine technologies. Large car manufactures like Ford, Chrysler, Mazda, Mercedes Benz and others experimented with a variety of alternative engines such as the clean burning diesel engine, the rotary engine, the sterling engine, the fuel cell, and others in order to achieve better power and fuel efficiency. However, in the end, all of these engines have failed to challenge the dominant internal combustion engine as the primary propulsion system for the American automobile.

This paper intends to investigate the failure of alternative engines to penetrate the US market during the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s.  In the early 1960’s and 70’s, automobile manufacturers introduced innovative alternative engine technologies to the US market.  However, in the mid seventies and eighties the market saw a rapid decline in the utilization of these technologies. The cause of the decline is still contested among historians. Much has been written concerning the failure of alternative engine technologies during these decades. The main sources of evidence forming the basis of this paper consist of scientific and technical documents that arose out of research on alternative engine technologies conducted by automobile manufacturers.  In addition, the work will rely on evidence from technical conferences regarding the viability of alternative technologies.

Many scholars have attributed the sudden drop in research and development of alternative engines to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977.  These amendments were in accordance with the standards for fuel efficiency, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions already followed by the automobile industry in the production of internal combustion engines.  Before the institution of the Clean Air Act Amendments, large automakers had invested considerable sums of money and time into research on alternative engines.  These engines would have been more fuel efficient and in compliance with emissions regulations for carbon monoxide, but not for nitrogen oxide.  After legislators passed the amendments, automakers deemed it unprofitable to pursue alternative engine technologies as the engines could not meet the nitrogen oxide emissions requirements. There was no economic incentive for the car companies to invest in engines that could ultimately provide longer life, greater fuel efficiency and environmental cleanliness, as the internal combustion technology was already in compliance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments.

The diesel engine is both an alternative and a failed technology in the US. Diesel engine sales account for less than two percent of the market in the United States, even though the engines last twice as long conventional engines and provide thirty-five to forty-five percent better fuel mileage. Why were these engines not available en masse to the public in a time were they were greatly needed? The US went through two major oil crises during which more fuel efficient engines would have been invaluable. The story of the development and subsequent failure of an alternative to the internal combustion engine is a complicated and multidimensional one. Politics, economic pressures, market forces, technical obstacles, and a host of other factors led to the demise of alternative engines. The story of the decline of alternative engine technologies is relevant because it helps us understand how certain technologies are accepted while others are disregarded, and how these discarded technologies can be useful to our society in both the present and the future.