Earlier this year, I brought you the breakdown on the FreeValve camless engine and how it worked. The technology itself had been fiddled with for a while from various companies, but up until now, it hasn’t been a feasible option to use production vehicles, so the camless engine has yet to take off. Well, all that is about to change, as Freevalve – a sister company of Koenigsegg->ke43 – has found a home for its camless engine with Chinese automaker Qoros.->ke4662

It was probably one of the most unnoticed vehicles, but a Qoros concept named “Qamless” was actually on display at the Beijing Auto Show this year along with a display model of the freevalve engine sitting next to it. The concept car->ke169 was based on the Qoros 3 Hatchback that is already on sale in the Chinese market. There is no telling when the concept car will move over into production, but Freevalve’s CEO Urban Carlsson has said that the partnership between freevalve and Qoros will help the company move into a production application.

For those of you who don’t know about Freevalve’s camless engine, it uses pneumatic-hydraulic-electric direct valve control that, in theory, allows infinite valve timing and cylinder deactivation. The engine doesn’t have the need for a throttle body and relies on pressurized air and oil for vital operation functions. As Christian von Koenigsegg has put it, the switch to camless engines is comparable to the leap from carburetors to direct injection. It is impossible to say how long it will take for the camless engine to hit major manufacturers, or if it ever will. Surely, that will depend on how reliable and efficient the engine proves to be when the Qoros Qamless goes into production.

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Why it Matters

I can imagine the comments I’m going to see about how “electric cars are the future” and “this technology came along a little too late.” While electric cars have found themselves in the eye of the future, we are still a way off from the electric car becoming feasible for everyone. I mean, the Nissan Leaf gets just 100 miles of range, and the new Tesla 3 will surely beat that, but unless you live in certain areas or have a short commute, an electric car still isn’t for you.

The freevalve engine could – if things play out correctly – serve as an efficient solution as the world transitions between fuel-powered vehicles and electric-powered vehicles. Sure, the Freevalve engine still relies on gasoline and oil, and it does create some emissions, but it should prove to be significantly more efficient and emissions friendly. It won’t have the same run as the camshaft-equipped internal combustion engine, but if it proves reliable, it’ll be around until combustion engines are inevitably banned for use in automobiles. Not to mention the fact that it could surely have its place in motorsport thanks to the advanced tuning and performance gains made possible by the advanced valvetrain system.

Qoros 3

Read our full review on the 2013 Qoros 3 here.