/ 30 ELECTRIFICATION/HYBRIDIZATION Christian Chappelle, Vice President Powertrain & Chassis Engineering PSA Peugeot Citroën, presented the “PSA Low CO2 vehicle strategy”. The PSA Hybrid4- diesel-hybrid drive with electrically driven rear axle was also presented at the conference. Dr. Hang Zhu of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd described the challenges for automotive manufacturers on the Chinese market, and Narendra Kumar Jain, Deputy General Manager Tata Motors Ltd., explained the demands placed on the powertrain in the “Nano”-vehicle segment. The modular powertrain system “AVL e-Fusion” was described as an innovative contribution to bringing down the costs of the electrified powertrain. Dr. Helfried Sorger of AVL: “The AVL approach to cost reduction at comparable performance and fuel consumption targets is a profound and consistent integration of functions. (…) This functional integration is not only applied to the singular key elements of the powertrain, such as engine, gearbox and electric motor, but it also represents innovative solutions that logically combine these key elements in terms of overall powertrain function.” The “Diversification of powertrain technologies from a tier-1 supplier’s point of view “ was presented by Dr. Rolf Leonhard (consultant Robert Bosch GmbH and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bosch Engineering GmbH) who viewed the combustion engine as the dominating drive “in the next 20 years”. According to Dr. Leonhard there is still “significant potential” as far as emission reduction and fuel consumption are concerned, but exploiting this potential would entail high R&D costs. At the same time, electrified powertrain systems would have to be developed - a “major challenge” given the small profit margins. Standardization, alliances and high quantities could contribute significantly to bringing down costs. 2011 Mastering Powertrain Diversity The focus of the “Engine & Environment” conference 2011 was on mastering the increasing powertrain diversity that electrification entailed but also aimed at the fulfillment of customer requirements and legal provisions. The speakers sought to answer the question as to how the significant increase in development efforts resulting from this diversity could be managed at reasonable expense. “The complexity of the powertrain between legislation and market” was the title of the opening presentation by Jeffrey P. Lux, Vice President Powertrain Engineering General Motors Europe. He suggested “focusing on fewer but more powerful powertrain architectures” as a possible solution to mastering the multitude of technologies and variants. He continued to say that a precisely defined development process and the use of advanced development tools are just as important, as electrification opens up “new, additional options, but also increased complexity.” Jeffrey P. Lux, Vice President Powertrain Engineering, General Motors Europe. Top: Dr. Hang Zhu, Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. Bottom: Narendra Kumar Jain, Deputy General Manager, Tata Motors Ltd. Jefrey P. Lux, Christian Chapelle, Hang Zhu, Simon Johnson, Narendra Kumar Jain, Hidetoshi Kadota
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