The Future Powertrain Portfolio: Fuel Cells, eFuels, Batteries – A Matter of Application

Authors

Dr. L. Mauler, L. Hoffmann, M. Fesser, N. Eilers, R. Beck, Dr. F. Duffner, Porsche Consulting GmbH, Bietigheim-Bissingen:

Year

2023

Print Info

Production/Publication ÖVK

Summary

The replacement of fossil fuels in the future powertrain portfolio is increasingly becoming a consensus between politics, industry and science. For passenger vehicles, battery-electric powertrains are emerging as the mainstream option that allows emission-free operation at point of use. Companies from other industries such as truck and bus, off-highway machinery, railway, shipping, and aviation are also aiming to reduce emissions and replace fossil fuels, driven by customer awareness, capital markets, emission regulation, and technological momentum. Compared to passenger vehicles, these applications have fundamentally different requirements that in various cases cannot be met by batteries alone. Other technologies such as fuel cells and efuels are potential alternatives, but their technical and economic performance strongly depend on application and use case. Furthermore, continuous R&D activities and upscaling will improve the technological parameters of each powertrain over time, improving their competitiveness compared to conventional drives. For companies to successfully transform, it is critical to identify the most suitable future powertrain technologies and to set up the right technology strategy early on. In order to build such a strategy, technological performance needs to be forecasted and matched with application-specific requirements. Using this approach, industry- and product-specific tipping points for new powertrain technologies can be predicted and stakeholders can take the right steps to prepare mass adoption across industries.

ISBN

978-3-9504969-2-5