Novel approaches to improving gas mileage will enable engines to get the fuel efficiency of a hybrid but at a fraction of the cost

There is one small side benefit to gasoline selling above $4 a gallon and oil prices setting new records almost daily. From lonely inventors to small research firms to big carmakers, everyone is scrambling to find new ways to improve fuel economy. They’re not just working on the hybrid-electric vehicles and electric cars that make big headlines. Engineers across the globe are also working on ways to improve the good old gasoline engines that power today’s cars.
Take MCE-5 Development. This researcher based in Lyon, France, is the latest company to try to make a gasoline engine that will give cars the efficiency of hybrid-electric vehicles and clean diesels for a fraction of the cost. MCE-5 says it can get a 35% fuel economy boost from its 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine. In a test lab, the company has gotten 220 hp and about 45 mpg, and all for less than $1,000 a vehicle.