/ 25 1994 Viktor Klima, Tokuta Inoue, Michael Krämer, Ernst Fiala, Horst MaRchart, Mario Theissen Future Powertrain Systems High-profile experts from three continents provided a look into the future of powertrain development at the beginning of the 1994 edition of “Engine & Environment”: The Japanese view was presented by Dr. Tokuta Inoue of Toyota Motor Corporation, the US were represented by Charles A. Amann (KAB Engineering, Detroit), and Dipl.-Ing. Michael Krämer (Daimler Benz AG) demonstrated the European perspective. The conclusion of the German expert regarding alternative drives was as follows: “Vehicles with alternative powertrain systems will only stand a chance in future if their positive aspects – in particular that of reducing the local environmental impact – become so dominant in people’s general perception that the inherent drawbacks are tolerated.” “The potential of the diesel engine and the diesel hybrid drive in passenger cars was the topic covered by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Seiffert, Member of the Board in charge of Research and Development at Volkswagen AG. In addition to introducing the pump injector and a common-rail injection system, he also presented a hybrid demo vehicle based on the Concept 1 Beetle with a 3-cylinder TDI engine (50 kW) and an 18-KW electric motor with purely electric range of 100 km (at 50 km/h). Prof. Dr. Seiffert spoke about the future perspective of the diesel hybrid: “Battery technology will play a central role in the implementation of this concept. Major progress is still needed here.” Referring to the most vital factors to ensure reduced pollutant emissions of diesel engines, Prof. Dr. Seiffert said that “In addition to sophisticated technological concepts, we will also need better fuel quality in future to meet the more stringent demands.” Dipl.-Ing. Horst Marchart, Director Research and Development at Porsche AG, held a presentation on “Transmission technology - A trade-off between consumer acceptance and environmental considerations” and said: “Cutting back traffic-related CO2 emissions by 25 % over the next 15 years requires a significant reduction in vehicle weight as well as major improvements in overall efficiency”. He continued by describing the important contribution that transmission engineering could provide: “The optimization of current transmission concepts creates sufficient potential for the envisaged efficiency increase.” Dr. Mario Theissen of BMW AG gave the following answer to the question of “Natural gas and hydrogen - Fuels with a future?”: “The utilization of vehicles propelled using natural gas in the short or medium term can help to extend the more valuable petrol reserves and reduce pollutant emissions in some conurbations. (...) Vehicles running on hydrogen are - in the short term - only conceivable for the gradual development of niche applications. High hopes are being placed on fuel cell technology. However, at the current state of development, it is impossible to predict the chances of the practical application of these electro-chemical energy converters.” The hybrid demo vehicle based on the Concept 1 Beetle (Photo: VW).
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