Ferrari has filed a patent application (pictured above) for an electrically-turbocharged four-cylinder engine with the European Patent Office, according to Autoguide. Assuming this powerplant makes it to production, it will be the first four-cylinder engine to serve in a Prancing Horse in over two decades.
According to the patent, the setup features a turbine situated within the exhaust duct, and is driven by exhaust gases. Unlike a conventional turbocharger however, there is no mechanical link between the exhaust-driven turbine and a compressor, instead harvesting the energy for storage as electricity via an electric generator.
The stored energy is then used to power a traction motor that will aid in propelling the driven wheels, as well as to power the electric compressor that serves as the forced induction component of the setup. The idea behind using electricity is not just to reduce turbo lag, but also to improve the aural qualities of a turbocharged engine.
The faster the exhaust turbine spins, the higher-pitched the exhaust tone can be, according to the patent filing. This also means that while something like an exhaust valve is either fully opened or closed, the turbine allows for more variance in tone by varying its speed. As the energy is stored away by the generator, performance will not suffer if the ECU slows the exhaust turbine to get the desired sound.
Turbocharging is now commonplace amongst Ferrari’s line-up, at least for the V8 models such as the Portofino and the 488 Pista. Ferrari’s first-ever roadgoing turbocharged model was the 208 GTS Turbo, also a 2.0 litre model, albeit in a V8 configuration.
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This is supercharger…..gosh
Wonderful aural qualities of turbocharged engine. Nothing less.
OMG. Ferrari is filing a patent application for an electrically-turbocharged 4-cylinder engine !!!
Maybe environmental issues have forced Ferrari to use less cylinders with electric turbocharger !!
Wonder how a 4-cylinder Ferrari will sound like !?
Or this could be showing only one of the cylinder banks. It’s a patent application for the turbocharger, not the actual engine. The engine can be anything. It might even be a V6 like the Dino.
Then again I just read the patent. yeah it seems it is a 4-cylinder (though only mentioned once in the patent). We might not see this in a Ferrari though. They might supply this to Alfa Romeo.
The patent is all about the electric supercharger. The 4 cylinder is just a placeholder, not an actual engine design.
Awesome soon we will see a million dollar 4 cylinder Ferrari!
Soon we gonna see people fit in the 4 cylinder engine in a satria and got an emblem showing handling by Lotus & powered by Ferrari ;)
One must find a Ferrari 4-cylinders engine 1st B4 U fit it into a Satria(assuming it fit). Can U ?!
Oh my god….damn good news from Ferrari!!! 4 cylinder turbocharge Ferrari supercar is borned! Can’t wait anymore….
Evolved from their electric tebo V6 F1 engine?
It’s not a supercharger (mechanical driven), it is still a turbocharger (gas driven), remember F1 technology ERS? Exhaust Energy Recovery System. You can see the MGU-H (motor-generator unit – heat) on the patent. The system convert the heat to electrical energy (via generator), then use by motor to propel the compressor. Hence the compressor shaft speed is totally independent (or not limited by) from the turbine shaft speed limit.