As for new, this engine design goes well back to steam engines. Hardly new.

Yeah I was pretty sure I'd seen that concept somewhere before. It looks cool, but certainly not "different" enough from any other piston engine design to not have been conceived and tried by now. Thanks.

It seems like the difference is how the pistons are fired. There's no fuel lost when you spontaneously start and stop the pistons with electricity, so you can only run X at a time and get better fuel economy when you don't need all the available horsepower.

The fact that it's not so new is a big advantage. It can take advantage of industrial infrastructure and the economies of scale developed for existing piston engines.

A single crankshaft is probably more practical for small cars.