ABOUT TOUR ENGINE
The tinkering began in garages in San Diego and Israel.
The goal? Make one of civilization’s most valued workhorses – the internal combustion engine – vastly more efficient.
Company co-founders Dr. Oded Tour and his father Hugo Tour, former head of the IAF’s (Israeli Air Force’s) Mechanical Labs, had a keen insight about internal combustion engines (ICEs): knowing that ICEs lose about a third of their energy to cooling, and another third to exhaust, the father and son duo decided to “split” the conventional engine cycle into two distinct “hot and cold” halves. In true entrepreneurial fashion, their first effort essentially “siamesed together” two lawnmower engines. One half handled the cold process (intake and compression) while the other half handled the hot process (combustion and exhaust). And so, Tour Engine’s split-cycle was born
Tour Engine Inc. (TEI) is a thriving technology company.
We are diligently focused on perfecting and commercializing an efficient, simple, and green internal combustion engines for the growing distributed generation energy markets.
Tour’s business opportunity – and potential impact on society – is enormous.
The IC engine global market is made up of multiple verticals that are expected to grow from $362B in 2022 to $740B by 2030. With time, some verticals will plateau and decline(ex. private transportation)while other verticals are expected to substantially grow, such as engines for distributed generation. Future engines running on carbon-neutral fuels will enable essential resiliency for the growing distributed generation energy markets.
GRANTS & FUNDING
[2006 – 2022] $16,368,500 – Total funding to date
| Date | Funding Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 – 2021 | $4,820,000 | The US Department of Energy ARPA-E’s GENSETS program for distributed generation grant. A total of 4 consecutive plus-up funding |
| 2016 – 2022 | $6,300,000 | Bridge funding led by Joan and Dr. Irwin Jacobs |
| 2015 | $1,000,000 | The US Department of Energy ARPA-E’s GENSETS program for distributed generation grant award |
| 2015 | $23,500 | Technical feasibility project commissioned by BMW |
| 2014 | $2,500,000 | Series A funding led by Joan and Dr. Irwin Jacobs |
| 2013 | $95,000 | California EISG Grants |
| 2010 – 2019 | $830,000 | Israeli DOE grants. A total of 4 grants helped develop the first engine prototypes |
| 2006 – 2014 | $800,000 | Angel investors. A total of 17 investors at the seed stage |
2006 – 2022 |
$16,368,500 |
TOTAL FUNDING TO DATE |
TOUR ENGINE IN THE NEWS
Tour Engine proceeding with development of 5 kW Split-Cycle genset with additional ARPA-E GENSETS funding
21 June 2018 – Green Car Congress
Diesel Power: Eight Companies Determined to Change Our Engine Forever
Mar 1, 2012 – Motortrend
Tour Engine moves its opposed-cylinder split-cycle engine to beta prototype
October 12, 2011 – Green Car Congress
Tour de force -Local engineers hope redesigned motor is a real transformer
June 8, 2009 – The San Diego Union-Tribune
Kiryat Gat inventor reinvents internal combustion engine
July 6, 2009 – The Jerusalem Post
Reimagine the future with Tour Engine
Tour is backed by sophisticated technology investors and has won grants from both the US (DOE’s ARPA-E) and Israeli (DOE) governments. Tour has also been issued 44 patents (US and International) with several more pending.
