BorgWarner has developed the first flex fuel turbocharger made in Brazil for the country’s growing passenger car market. The B01-series turbocharger will allow automakers to comply with Brazil’s INOVAR-AUTO requirements. Designed for 0.8- to 1.6-liter engines, BorgWarner’s new flex fuel turbocharger will debut with a major global automaker in mid-2015.
“Downsized, boosted gasoline engines are already a major trend. As drivers in Brazil also desire fuel economy and lower emissions, we expect demand for our latest turbocharging technology to grow significantly,” said Frederic Lissalde, President and General Manager, BorgWarner Turbo Systems. “BorgWarner has been producing turbochargers for commercial and light-duty diesel vehicles in Brazil for 40 years. Our latest innovations in flex fuel turbocharging technology will allow us to expand into Brazil’s gasoline-powered passenger car market.”
In Brazil, flex fuel vehicles run on gasoline (which contains up to 25 percent ethanol) or 100 percent ethanol fuel. High amounts of ethanol can cause higher corrosion rates and more oil dilution than other fuels. BorgWarner engineers employed advanced materials and design solutions to improve turbocharger durability even with 100 percent ethanol fuel. Featuring a compact design for small passenger car applications, BorgWarner’s flex fuel turbocharger includes a milled compressor wheel, optimized bearing system and wastegate controlled by an electric actuator with advanced noise suppression features. The turbocharger has been developed to be directly mounted to the cylinder head’s integrated exhaust manifold, thus allowing a compact engine installation.
BorgWarner builds the turbochargers at its facility in Itatiba City, Brazil, using high-volume, lean manufacturing processes and precision robotics.
Source: BorgWarner
Romain’s opinion:
I’m surprised that BorgWarner didn’t enter the Flex Fuel market yet in Brazil. This market represents a substantial amount of cars and then turbochargers. The question is then: what is the share of these cars equipped with a gasoline turbocharged engine? As Euro5 regulation is currently applied in Brazil, we might think that the market penetration of gasoline turbocharged engines is smaller than in Europe.
Just one item to be considered. In Brazil is used anhydrous alcohol blended with gasoline, it means that this kind of alcohol has less water than ethanol.