ACTIVE - Advanced Combustion Turbocharged Inline Variable valvetrain Engine

Ford is building a new low-carbon petrol engine at its Dagenham and Dunton engineering centres, bringing together a consortium of UK universities and European suppliers to cut vehicle CO₂ emissions. The problem is straightforward: internal combustion engines still power the vast majority of cars on the road, and simply switching to electric vehicles overnight is not feasible for cost, infrastructure, or manufacturing reasons. This project targets the gap between today's engines and a fully electric future by making conventional engines dramatically cleaner. The core technologies—advanced turbocharging, variable valve timing, and inline cylinder configurations—allow the engine to burn fuel more completely and efficiently, reducing the CO₂ produced per mile. If successful, the engine could deliver substantial CO₂ savings across Ford's mainstream vehicle range without requiring drivers to change their habits or buy new charging equipment. The project also strengthens the UK's engineering supply chain and retains high-value automotive R&D jobs in Britain, rather than seeing that expertise move overseas. For the public, the impact would be invisible but real: lower emissions from the millions of petrol cars still being built and driven over the next decade.