Thanks to increasing regulation and public sentiment, virtually every car maker is making use of electric motors to power their cars. Ferrari recently claimed they could make an EV better than the Tesla Roadster, and most cars come with hybrid or plug-in hybrid options. Electric vehicles will get cheaper and more efficient as technology develops, and infrastructure is rapidly improving. There are many people predicting a fully electric future. Among the crowds of companies boasting new EV technology, there was one holdout: Mazda.

A recent statement by Mitsuo Hitomi, who is in charge of Mazda’s powertrain division, claimed that the Japanese automaker is aiming to develop their Skyactiv technology into 56% thermal efficiency. Dubbed Skyactiv-3, if 56% thermal efficiency is achieved, will be the first internal combustion engine to turn more energy into power than waste.

Major Roadblocks

This will be no easy task for Mazda, as it has major competition in its way. The most thermally efficient engine today is Mercedes-AMG’s F1 engine, boasting 50% thermal efficiency. For Mazda to achieve this, they will likely need to find a way to capture heat lost through the engine and turn it back into useable power. Whether Mazda will actually be able to develop this technology or not is still pretty unclear. There has been no target date for this technology to be finished, and the future of Mazda EVs and plug-in hybrids is unclear. One this is clear though: cars will get cleaner and more efficient as time goes on.