Bosch drives down fuel consumption – in a salami technique
The powertrains will continue to evolve towards better fuel efficiency for the combustion engines and better batteries for their electric counterparts. For instance, Bosch expects Lithium-ion batteries which deliver twice the power compared to today’s models – at 50 % lower prices, explained Bernd Bohr, General Manager of Bosch’s automotive technology division. The company continues to bet on electromobility – but not for all vehicle classes. Electric powertrains, be it hybrid or fully electric, can unfold their potential in large, heavy vehicles rather than in subcompacts, Bohr said. As a consequence, in the subcompact category with conventional engines will be further optimized to meet the EU CO2 targets for 2020 even without electric drives. Large cars, in contrast won’t be able to meet these CO2 targets not even with optimized combustion engines. They require powerful electric components for hybrid drives.
To meet these targets for both ICE and hybrid electric powertrains, Bosch is developing a number of components that help to reduce CO2 emissions. Among them is an electric clutch (which already was demonstrated at the event) that automatizes manual transmissions: When the driver takes his foot off the accelerator pedal, the new eClutch switches the transmission into idle, causing the vehicle to coast along at low engine speed. This device will reduce fuel consumption by 5 %, Bohr believes.
In addition, the start-stop system in micro and full hybrid systems will receive data input from the navigation system. "Thus, the navigation will act as a sensor to topology", Bohr explained. The effect: The system reduces the vehicle speed early ahead of speed limits or curves. Bohr estimates that this approach will reduce fuel consumption by as much as 15%. Optimized hybrid components and systems with a new feature called Boost Recuperation System (BRS) will add regenerative braking, saving up to 7% of the fuel.
Another approach is the hydraulic hybrid system Bosch currently develops along with French carmaker PSA. This technology stores the kinetic energy not in batteries but in pressurized air tanks. While the energy stored in the air tank just suffices for some 700 meters (less than half a mile) to drive without engine action, the company believes that the system can reduce fuel consumption by as much as 30% – in city traffic even by 45%. "The reason is that the energy efficiency of this system is much better than the efficiency of an electric system", a Bosch expert said. "the challenge for electric recuperation is that in a very short time a very high amount of energy has to be transformed from kinetic to electric and be immediately stored in the battery. During this process, high losses of energy occur. We can avoid these loses with the hydraulic hybrid system".
Fully electric powertrains remain a distant goal for the electronics giant. Hitherto, the company’s record of success is limited to the powertrain for the Fiat 500e, the electric version of the popular subcompact. One of the main obstacles for the market success of electric vehicles is the price level. But Bohr is optimistic that customers eventually will accept a high price once they experienced the benefits of electric driving. In a joint customer study with carmaker Opel, potential customers were offered to drive first and only afterwards they were asked how much they would be willing to spend for an electric car. The result: The bigger the e-car the customers drove, the higher was the disposition to accept a higher price level.
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