New Challenges for the World´s Automotive Industry and its Consequences on the Powertrain Development

Authors

Dipl.-Ing. H. J. Wester, Executive Vice President & CTO, Fiat Group S.p.A., Torino, CEO, Maserati S.p.A., Modena

Year

2010

Print Info

Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Reihe 12, Nr. 716

Summary

Road Transportation is facing the greatest challenge in all its history, having to comply with sustainability requirements aimed at improving ecological and social conditions while safeguarding economic efficiency. Sustainability issues bring into question future acceptability of present fossil fuels and of the associated vehicle technologies. If mankind wants to meet the targets fixed for next decades in terms of greenhouse gases emissions reduction and global warming, all possible approaches have to be investigated: (a) Change the energy vector (replace or supplement fossil fuels) and related energy sources; (b) Increase the content of carbon-neutral content of liquid fuels (blend with bio-fuels); (c) Reduce the energy needed by the vehicle during operation; (d) Increase the efficiency of the internal combustion engine. While the first option is the most promising on the long term, particularly with respect to electricity, it is not yet viable on a large scale in the short term, due to present technical and economical drawbacks of electric batteries to be used both on Electric Vehicles and on Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles. On the other hand, bio-fuels do not seem to be the right approach to solve sustainability problems of Road Transportation. Passenger vehicle technology is therefore expected to remain dependent on internal combustion engines for a few decades to come. In particular, in the short-to-medium term it will be necessary to fully exploit the still large potential of the internal combustion engine, giving priority to organic losses reduction (pumping losses, frictions, auxiliaries efficiency). For the long-term, when the shift towards electric mobility will start in earnest, an integrated approach will be the most efficient concept, aimed at involving all stakeholders in finding solutions able to completely fulfil all dimensions of sustainability.

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