LONDON: Škoda’s technical expertise and experience has been honoured with an important assignment, as the brand has been given responsibility for the development of EA 211 series combustion engines.
The engines will power 50 model lines across seven brands within the Volkswagen Group.
Škoda will develop all EA 211 series internal combustion engines for the entire group.
So far, the Czech carmaker has mainly developed naturally aspirated MPI engines of this series, but now it will also take responsibility for the development of TSI units.
The new responsibility builds on Škoda’s previous roles. For example, it is already responsible for the development of the MQB A0 Global platform, which can use the EA 211 engines, while also developing drum brakes for the entire group. In addition, alongside the new generation Superb, the new Volkswagen Passat has also been developed in Mladá Boleslav.
Škoda’s engine development tradition in Mladá Boleslav stretches back well over a century.
The history of the development and production of internal combustion engines in the town dates back to 1899, when Václav Laurin and Václav Klement built their first bicycle fitted with an auxiliary engine. As early as 1905, Laurin & Klement presented its first car, the Voiturette A, which was powered by a 1.0-litre liquid-cooled engine developed in-house.
With a few exceptions, the Czech carmaker used its own power units almost exclusively until it joined the Volkswagen Group.
Even following the merger in 1991, Škoda continued to keep up its engine development and manufacturing tradition in Mladá Boleslav, despite engines developed by other group brands starting to appear under the bonnets of Škoda cars.
Production of the EA 211 engine series began in Mladá Boleslav in 2012 with the new 1.0 MPI type.
Shortly afterwards, Škoda was put in charge of the complete development of MPI power units for the entire group.
In 2014, Škoda opened a brand-new engine centre, which gave it the necessary capacity and cutting-edge technology to take responsibility for an entire engine series.
Consequently, engineers in Mladá Boleslav are now going to gradually take charge of developing the future TSI engines of the EA 211 series in addition to the MPI units.
Today the EA 211 model range is characterised by a high degree of variability – the engines can have three or four cylinders, range in size from 1.0-litre to 1.6 litres and currently cover a power output spectrum from 65PS to more than 150PS.
The engines can use petrol, CNG or ethanol and are also available in mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions.
The MPI units are naturally aspirated engines with indirect multipoint fuel injection, which are renowned for their robustness.
The TSI engines, on the other hand, feature an exhaust pressure wave supercharger, which are powerful, high-torque engines that can power a wide range of models – including 1.0 TSI, 1.4 TSI (for plug-in hybrids such as the Superb iV), and 1.5 TSI found in vehicles from Fabia and Octavia, to the Karoq and Kodiaq.
They offer drivers a combination of high performance and low fuel consumption, as well as excellent handling.
The developers in Mladá Boleslav will continue to improve and adapt these engines to the needs and regulations of dozens of global markets.
The aim is to develop even more powerful and more fuel-efficient engines with lower emissions, with an emphasis on maximum reliability.
