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| For power equipment often used in business, fuel economy is one of the most important performance criteria. Honda has improved the fuel economy of outboard engines and generators by making full use of the 4-stroke engine technologies that it has been developing over many years. Also, it put on sale the world’s first hybrid snow blower, which has higher fuel economy than traditional ones, as one of its measures to promote the fuel economy of its power equipment. |
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Honda’s 4-stroke engines, which have a long history, have been further improved for better performance. By the adoption of advanced technologies such as electronically controlled ignition and lean-burn combustion systems, our power equipment equipped with 4-stroke engines are now more energy saving. The outboard engine BF9.9, which was fully remodeled in 2000, provides a performance equivalent to its previous model, despite the reduction of the displacement from the traditional 288 cc to 222 cc, which has led to the downsizing of the product as a whole by 20%. As a result of adopting a cross-flow center plug, a hemispherical combustion chamber, highly precise digital ignition timing control, and lean-burn combustion technologies, fuel economy has been improved by 30% compared with the previous model, achieving both high output and high fuel economy.
In 2003, we unveiled the BF150 and FB135 as the world’s first outboard engines to adopt a fuel injection system equipped with an LAF sensor (Honda PGM-FI) to achieve lean-burn operation. These engines have fuel efficiency approximately 20% higher than the previous BF130. Subsequently, in 2006, we released the BF90 and BF75 marine outboard engines. They boast the world’s first ignition timing governed by the boosted low speed torque air/fuel ratio technology (BLAST) and other intelligent technologies. With these technologies, the lightweight and compact outboard engines offer outstanding performance and fuel efficiency, which has been improved by more than 20% compared with the previous model. |
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For the inverter generator EU16i, released in 2001, we adopted
our own high-speed, multi-way alternator, which has made the product approximately
30% lighter than the previous model, although maintaining the same output. Furthermore,
the adoption of a highly efficient inverter and an eco-throttle has enabled control
of the engine rotating speed to be kept in accordance with the capacity of the machine
equipped with the generator, thereby preventing unnecessary fuel consumption.
With these environmental technologies applied to EU16i, we have achieved a 20%
improvement in fuel economy compared with the previous model.
The iGX440 released in 2005 is the world’s first1) single-cylinder general purpose engine to feature the electronic engine speed control technology. The new electronic governor allows for the selection of the appropriate engine speed characteristics and the setting of optimum maximum and idling rpms for power equipment fitted with the iGX440. In addition, fuel efficiency has been improved over engines of the same class2) by approximately 15%.
Furthermore, Honda sometimes chooses to downsize engine displacement
for the improvement of fuel economy. For example, for the Komame F220, a tiller
remodeled in 2001, we have adopted a new 57cc OHV engine instead of the 90 cc
side-valve engine traditionally used for the product. By developing the technology
to achieve a higher output with a smaller displacement, the fuel economy of the
Komame F220 has been almost doubled compared with the previous model.
The snow blower Snowra i HS1390i, released in 2001, is the world’s
first hybrid snow blower: the snow blower apparatus is driven by an engine, and
the drive part is powered by an electric motor. We then released the Snowra iHS 1180i and 980i in 2002 and the Snowra HSS1170i in 2003. Subsequently, in 2005, we released the HSM 1590i, which combines the electronic engine speed control technology with Honda’s hybrid system, thereby improving work efficiency and smoothness and improving fuel efficiency by approximately 22% compared with the previous model, while enabling longer operation. |
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1) According to Honda’s survey
2) 15-horsepower class |
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