POWERTRAIN
strengths for long-haul, heavy-duty trucks. In the passenger car segment, vehicle electrification is seeing strong growth, and we are embracing this change. However, even if the market for pure electric cars grows at an unparalleled rate to account for 30% of the global fleet by 2030 as many predict, that still leaves 70% of new passenger cars being delivered with an internal combustion engine 10 years from now. Many vehicle manufacturers are significantly reducing their investments in new internal combustion engine development. Whereas only a few years ago they were committing to new generations of increasingly complex engines, money today is being spent on the best engine management/fuel injection systems to upgrade existing engines and on increasingly clever integration of electrification because, when tightly integrated, internal combustion engines and electrification together can create a benefit that is more than the sum of its parts. Propulsion systems that combine electric and combustion technologies in a highly synergistic way will therefore continue to emerge. We then add in the benefits of a connected world through what we are calling Intelligent Driving. Delphi Technologies is working with TomTom to develop the use of real-time mapping data to give the vehicle prior knowledge of conditions such as route infrastructure, hills, traffic congestion and traffic signal patterns. By allowing the propulsion system to make better decisions about things such as when to use electric power or gasoline power, and by using look- ahead information to control the vehicle speed, Intelligent Driving technology can reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of a mild hybrid by up to 10% without increasing travel time under real world driving conditions. When applied to higher levels of electrification, Intelligent Driving technology has the potential to improve efficiency even further and to increase electric driving range.
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS IN BATTERY AND HYBRID
IHS estimates that by 2025, around 45% of new passenger cars will be electrified. But this electrified fleet will not be
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The delicate work of handling injector pins
homogeneous, comprising a mix of mild and strong hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and fully battery electric vehicles. The technology requirement for electrification is therefore diverse, so one of the most important characteristics from the manufacturers’ perspective must be flexibility: the least possible change to accommodate the necessary number of specifications. In terms of performance goals, batteries are expensive and heavy, so efficient management of energy is important to deliver the maximum driving range from the battery pack, alongside the rate at which the battery can be recharged. The trend to higher voltages is an important part of the solution. At the 2019 IAA (Frankfurt Auto Show), we highlighted a large business win for a silicon carbide inverter at 800 volts, significantly extending electric vehicle range and enabling an up to 50% reduction in charging times compared with today’s state-of-the-art 400 volt systems. At the heart of this inverter is our compact Viper power switch. This smart technology eliminates the need for wire bonds that can create quality and reliability issues and introduces double-sided cooling, allowing the inverter to be 30% smaller and 40% lighter than an equivalent unit using conventional technology. The 800 volt configuration takes a further step by
employing silicon carbide MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors), a wide-band-gap semiconductor technology that allows ultra-fast switching and higher operating temperatures. Inverters are one of the highest-value electrification components and their efficiency has an industry- changing impact on many aspects of vehicle performance. 800 volts is not just about faster
charging: it’s also about providing a much broader range of capabilities from which the vehicle manufacturers can select. A higher voltage introduces options that include more range or a smaller battery; ultra-fast charging or lighter, less-costly cables and connections, and greater harvesting of vehicle kinetic energy when braking, which further extends vehicle range. It’s a fascinating time to be in this industry, not just because of the dramatic rate of change, but also because it drives what I would call real engineering innovation. ‘Real’ because although we are doing amazing new things, we also have to think hard about flexibility and eliminating complexity. In many respects these are the biggest challenges as it is success in these areas that will determine the competitiveness of new-generation vehicles and how fast the market will accept them. ●
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