Christian Von Koenigsegg plans on abandoning the cam to control pistons, instead of going with pneumatic actuators and software to control each valve independently. He claims it can be cheaper to make, saves weight (15 to 20 kilos) and height/width/depth, increase in horsepower (45%) and torque (47%), saves fuel (15%) and emissions (35%)... all numbers based on the comparison to the 4 cylinder turbo that they modified to this Freevalve design.
I'm not clear on if this is meant to become mass market eventually, for performance enhancement, or what. If this works as well as he claims though, then it might do as a good stopgap while we transition to electric.
More on it at Car & Driver:
http://blog.caranddriver.com/koenigseggs-camshaft-less-engine-explained-watch-it-in-action-video/ which mentions downsides, which seem mostly noise at the moment, as the others (such as needing an air compressor and another oil pump) are offset (the friction from "driving cams, chains, and spring-loaded valves" is apparently more). I'd think moving to a magnetic system would save noise...
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