Is Hyundai Working on a 2-Cylinder Engine?

A recently published patent unveils Hyundai has been working on a two-cylinder engine.

The patent application was filed on December 9, 2016, and published on March 15, 2018, and details a powertrain with a two-cylinder engine and a motor for reducing vibration and noise, resulting in improved fuel economy. The patent primarily focuses on a balance weight designed to offset the weight of the pistons with a variety of ways it can be mounted: between the cylinders, between the engine and the assist motor, or on the opposite side from the motor.

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“A powertrain in one form of the present disclosure may include: a 2-cylinder engine which includes a first piston disposed within a first cylinder, a second piston disposed within a second cylinder, and a crankshaft connected to the first and second pistons through a first crank pin and a second crank pin, respectively; a motor; a transmission connected to the motor; a clutch configured to selectively connect the motor to the crankshaft; and a weight portion including an inner rim configured to contact the crankshaft, a disk connected to the inner rim and an outer rim of the weight portion, and a balance weight,” reads the patent. “In particular, the balance weight is connected to the inner rim, the disk and the outer rim. The balance weight may be disposed to be symmetrical to corresponding positions to positions of the first and second crank pins.”

While the depth of the patent is mostly technical and not entirely interesting, the takeaway here is that Hyundai is looking into the development of a two-cylinder engine in the name of fuel efficiency. It wouldn’t be the first time a car uses a two-cylinder engine, with the Volkswagen XL1 powered by an 800-cc two-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine. Whether or not we will ever see Hyundai’s two-cylinder engine in production is an entirely different question.

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