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• Efficient Drives

  The challenges of climate protection and air pollution control require increasingly efficient powertrains and increasing electrification. Greater focus must be placed on powertrain design within an integrated network of the combustion engine, transmission system and electrification. Storage media, so important for electrification, must be robustly designed, while monitoring their cost and ecological footprint. Moreover, the expansion of hybrid drives from 48 volts to include high-voltage technology is opening up new potential for all vehicle segments. Downsizing and cutting-edge technologies for reducing friction in the combustion engine are enabling fuel savings of up to 26%, for example, in the new 1.0 l GDI three-cylinder turbo engine with Atkinson cycle from Honda. Patrice Marez explains how PSA is successfully meeting Euro 6d with a combustion engine alone. The new Mahle concept vehicle has a fully electric powertrain based on 48 V technology. The IPM (interior permanent magnet synchronous motor) traction drive represents a highly efficient combination of a synchronous motor with permanent magnets and an integrated 48 V electronic system.

• New 1.0-l Three-cylinder Gasoline Engine from Honda

  Honda has successfully brought a range of gasoline engines with turbocharging and direct-injection as the VTEC Turbo series to the market since 2015. Introduced to the European market in spring 2017, the newly developed 1.0-l three-cylinder engine is the smallest product in the series so far. Downsizing and state-of-the-art friction reduction technologies have enabled the 10th generation Civic model to improve fuel economy by 26 % compared to its predecessor.

• Mahle 48 V drive module for electric vehicles

  To address future growth in the city car segment, Mahle is currently developing a highly efficient, modular electric drive. The drive employs a 48 V power supply and integrates a synchronous motor with permanent magnets in a single compact unit, as well as power electronics developed in-house at Mahle. Adaptable to diverse vehicle concepts, the drive module is suitable for use in a wide range of applications. Mahle uses the MEET mobility concept to demonstrate how the drive can be integrated in an overall systems architecture.

• Gasoline Turbocharger with Variable Turbine Technology

  Highly efficient turbochargers with variable guide vanes are currently a challenge in gasoline engines due to the exhaust-gas temperatures. However, this is set to change because of the combination with the Miller-Atkinson cycle. For this usage case, Continental has developed the Vraax turbocharger with variable turbine technology.

• Oval Canning for Substrates of Exhaust Aftertreatment Systems for Commercial Vehicles

  The locating of high-volume substrates for exhaust aftertreatment systems in the muffler of commercial vehicles presents a particular challenge. In this case, catalytic converters/filters with oval cross-sections can positively impact installation space utilization and flow. In a collaboration with NGK and BASF, Eberspächer has developed a procedure for canning high-volume substrates with oval cross-sections.

• Lightweight Potential of Crankshafts with Hollow Design

  In a passenger car, the crankshaft makes up 12 % of the engine weight. Usually, crankshafts are made of forged steel. GF Automotive is a worldwide supplier producing hollow crankshafts using casting technique for 20 years. Using casting instead of forging allows weight reductions between 15 and 20 % and cost reductions of up to 15 %. Being used only in low and medium torque engines so far, a new study of GF Automotive illustrates that hollow crankshafts can also be used in high-torque engines.

• Greenhouse-Gas-Life-Cycle Comparison of Internal Combustion and Battery Electric Vehicles

  To achive the objectives of the 2015 climate change conference of Paris one action is the reduction of Greenhouse Gas in the transport sector. This can be supported by several technical measures but the accounting of Greenhouse Gas should be carried out with means of Life Cycle Analysis. An approach has been developed at the Helmut Schmidt University which is capable to compare different powertrains.

• Virtual Sensors for Diesel Engines

  To enable efficient operation while simultaneously producing low levels of exhaust emissions, modern passenger car diesel engines have significantly increased their degrees of freedom in operation. A feed forward and feedback control of emissions would ensure the operation of the complex system always at its optimum. In a FVV research project, model-based virtual emission sensors were derived at the ETH Zürich, provide the information faster (even before the combustion event) and cheaper than physical sensors, while being more robust in long term operation. These sensors can be used for model based feedforward control and can be integrated into a feedback control loop. The test bench measurements showed that the virtual sensors are able to predict transient emissions and could replace physical sensors.

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