I thought a few vehicle manufactures were gearing up to manufacture this engine? What happened? I'm guessing they are trying to use the wrong materials that lack the durability?
Now that CAT owns EMD, I wonder if they plan to use the planetary drive and overrunning clutch approach to some of their large (Lafayette) four stroke stationary engines that need to come up on-line for emergency power generation in a very quick manner.
Well, only if the mechanism can be built at a price point that does not add a large chunk to the overall system cost, which I doubt. EP standby engines are evaluated in the market on the basis of $/kW first cost, due to the rather low utilization. Compressed air assist, feasible at sites where compressed air is available to keep a tank or accumulator charged up, is probably more attractive on that basis.
"Schiefgehen wird, was schiefgehen kann" - das Murphygesetz