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WSJ: Oil companies, automakers seek lifeline for internal combustion engine

|By: , SA News Editor

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), BP, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) and other oil companies are spending millions of dollars per year working with automakers including Ford (NYSE:F) and Fiat Chrysler (NYSE:FCAU) to improve the internal combustion engine and help it compete with electric vehicles, WSJreports.

The companies are hoping new, thinner lubricants will help squeeze even more efficiency out of traditional car engines, allowing them to comply with stricter environmental rules and remain relevant as new technologies such as zero-emission electric vehicles emerge.

The efforts come as the combustion engine faces new threats, as countries including the U.K., France, China and India have signaled that they plan to ban sales of vehicles with traditional engines in the coming decades.

“It’s really important that we are able to squeeze the lemon,” said Andrew Hepher, Shell’s VP of global commercial technology. “The combustion engine has still got a long way to run.”

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One Comment

  1. michael j says:

    until the electric car makers can extend the mileage range, reduce charging time,and have many more locations for charging, the auto makers should not be too worried. tesla claims 350 mi. on a full charge, and 75 minutes to fully recharge, that would add 4 hrs. on a trip from NY to Fl. as opposed to 3 15 min. pit stops for gas, and a restroom break. the electric truck is also not very feasible, in the trucking business time is money, on a delivery run, time wasted at a charging station is time that the wheels are not turning! In my opinion, it will be many years before these vehicles have been refined enough to replace fuel powered vehicles, and I’m not yet dumping my oil co. stock holdings!