News

CTI is delighted to welcome Punch Powertrain as a long-standing partner once again at the Digital Edition of the European CTI Symposium

“As a global supplier of innovative and fuel-efficient powertrain solutions, we believe that CTI Berlin is an excellent platform to showcase our latest solutions and exchange ideas with market leaders. A constant dialogue is vital to grasp the ever-changing trends in the dynamic automotive market. CTI Berlin represents an ideal place for us to follow the latest trends in the field of transmission and be an actor of change. Closely monitoring and adapting to the market, our agile teams develop differentiating technologies to anticipate our customer needs. Once more, we are excited to participate in this great event. “

Sebastien Mazoyer
Chief Sales & Marketing Officer

“Highly efficient and affordable electric drive axles are essential for the mass adoption of electric vehicles, whether it is a battery electric vehicle, plug-in hybrid vehicle or fuel cell vehicle.”

Said Karel Vergote, Global Technology & Innovation Leader, Punch Powertrain, who presented during CTI SYMPOSIUM USA 2020 in October.

“The e-drive axle provides the transfer from electrical power into mechanical power and typically consists of an electric motor, inverter and a single speed transmission. The efficiency of the complete unit is a key aspect of optimization, as it affects electrical driving range, while reducing material and manufacturing costs and make electric vehicles more affordable for the broad public.

To address this market need, a new 150kW e-drive axle for passenger cars was developed. We used a holistic approach to optimize the system for cost and efficiency. Co-design methodology was applied to make system level assessments within the development taking into account hardware as well as control parameters. The integration of motor, inverter and transmission leads to benefits to the system in terms of efficiency, cost and power density. Its compactness renders the new e-drive axle to be applicable both as a front and rear axle drive. The design methodology was applied to a specific case, but the principles are also valid for other types of e-drive developments.”

The system holds further interesting aspects which will be presented during CTI SYMPOSIUM EUROPE 2020 in December. We are looking very much forward to the presentation of Joris Bronckaers, Systems Engineer.

Hydrogen from production to vehicle application

The energy providers, communities and automotive industry are working on the energy and mobility transformation. The production, distribution, usage of hydrogen as well as the development and application of efficient technologies vital for a successful turnaround.

During the CTI SYMPOSIUM EUROPE leading experts form the energy and automobile sector are discussing the future of hydrogen as an energy carrier and its application in vehicles

Discuss with the following experts, among others:

Dr Wolfgang Warnecke
Chief Scientist Mobility at Shell in his plenary speech

The question whether H2 or BEV is a future proof technology will be addressed in a panel with

Konstantin Neiß, director R&D Transmission and eDrives at Daimler
Dr Stephan Herbst, Technical General Manager Hydrogen at Toyota
Felix Horch, Head of the Electromobility Department at Fraunhofer IFAM

In a specific session dedicated on hydrogen from production to vehicle application scientists and engineers of Shell, Toyota, FIAT Powertrain Industrial and Hyundai will go into details about

• H2 as a renewable fuel option for mobility
• The role of hydrogen and electrification towards Zero Emission Mobility
• Fuel Cell Systems Development for Commercial Applications: Requirements, Technology Status and Challenges
• H2 – vehicle applications and integration

Join the CTI SYMPOSIUM GERMANY Digital Edition on December 8 and 9.

Benefit of this unique meeting of international experts to gather information most relevant for your future business strategy and generate valuable new business contacts.

Statement of experts from PUNCH Powerglide about the CTI Symposium and electrification

”The CTI Symposium is for us PUNCH Powerglide, one of the few independent gearbox manufacturers, a must-attend event for meeting and networking with important decision makers across the transmission and drivetrain world in the automotive industry. Participating at the European edition of the Symposia is of key importance for us, since we want to strengthen the development of future products in the European Market.”

Dr. Oliver Nass
Director Sales & Marketing
PUNCH Group

”Electrification is a great challenge for all players in the automotive industry. There is no single solution being able to meet all customer’s requirements and needs. PUNCH Powerglide has adapted this reasoning to its own product development and stands as a partner for different eDrive concepts: from modular solutions where we supply for example the gears, the shafts and the housings up to integrated solutions that include the electric motor, the inverter and the gearbox. ”

Wolfgang de Loth
Director Research & Development and New Business Development
Punch Powerglide

ElringKlinger is developing new production processes to improve output of thin steel sheet stacks for electric traction motors

Due to the change from internal combustion engines to electric drives in automotive applications, both the demand as well as the requirements for laminated stacks that form the iron core of an electric traction motor are increasing.

ELECTRIC DRIVE UNIT COMPONENTS

In order to optimize energy consumption and reduce the installation space, the iron losses of laminated stacks for traction motors must be reduced. On the other hand, they must be able to withstand ever higher speeds.

One way to meet this requirement is to stack thin layers of steel with a thickness ≤ 0.2 mm which are bonded together to create a stack. The thinner steel layers reduce eddy-current losses, with the adhesive layer acting as an insulator between the layers. Bonding, in comparison to known processes such as clinching/ interlocking, produces a significantly higher bond strength between the individual layers. This bonding strength is required to prevent the rotor stack from opening up at high speeds.

The main problem when using thin steel strips is a reduced number of strokes in the stamping process due to the reduced feed rate of the steel strip being processed. The increased number of layers and the reduced feed rate lead to an increase in the processing  time for the same stack height compared to commercially available steel strip thicknesses. The step from 0.3 mm to 0.2 mm layer thickness results in a reduction in output  of more than 80%.

To solve this problem, ElringKlinger developed an improved production process.

ELRINGKLINGER PRODUCTION PROCESS FOR LAMINATED STACKS

As a manufacturer of coated, metal flat gaskets, ElringKlinger has decades of experience in the coating, stamping and bonding of metal sheets with thicknesses ranging from 0.10 mm to 0.30 mm.

Special stamping processes have been developed specifically for the product group of multi-layer metal flat gaskets, which allows for several layers to be stamped simultaneously in one stamping process. This technology has been transferred to the production of bonded stacks.

 

In the first step, thin steel strips with a thickness of 0.2 mm are fully coated with a thermally activated adhesive. In the next process step, these coated steel strips are bonded to form a three-layer composite. From this composite material, individual three-layer bonded stacksare then stamped, which are collected, aligned and have a final bonding to form a complete rotor/stator stack.

Due to the higher stiffness of the composite material compared to individual sheet steel strips, the feed rate can be increased so that the same number of strokes is achieved as when processing 0.3 mm thick sheet steel strips. In addition, the output quantity is increased compared to single-stroke production – 0.6 mm stacking height can be produced per stroke.

PROCESS COMPARISON – GLUED STACK

Advantages of ElringKlinger laminated stacks

The adhesive developed by ElringKlinger offers not only reduced curing times but also excellent media resistance to oils, hot air and coolants.  ElringKlinger has a vast experience using very similar adhesives in the production of gaskets for automatic transmissions, which the company has been producing for many years.

Due to the very good media resistance and mechanical strength of the adhesive bond, the sheet steel stacks are permanently internally sealed during lifetime. The lifetime performance of the sealing has already been confirmed in initial validations trials by media storage and internal pressure tests.

 

 

Due to this characteristic, direct liquid cooling can be realized directly inside of the stator or the rotor by means of stamped channels. The reduced eddy-current losses of the thin steel sheets and the improved cooling enables a longer peak power, especially in high load ranges.

Due to the isolating effect of the adhesive layers and without the mechanical connection points, which occurs in the clinching/ interlock process, there is no “short circuit” between the layers and the magnetic flux is not interrupted.

By eliminating  gaps between the layers due to the adaption of the steel sheets, a higher stacking factor can be achieved with the bonding process.

ElringKlinger laminated stacks significantly increase the efficiency for electric motors in the high-performance applications as well as for drive concepts that are focusing on weight reduction.

ElringKlinger Contacts

Alexander Heinzelmann
Alexander.Heinzelmann@elringklinger.com
Fon: +49 (7123) 724 88401

Eberhard Griesinger
eberhard.griesinger@elringklinger.com
Fon: +49 (7123) 724 88070

New Castrol study reveals ‘tipping points’ to drive mainstream electric vehicle adoption

Exploring viewpoints of nearly 10,000 consumers, fleet managers and industry specialists globally, ​Accelerating the EVolution ​finds that ​​achieving a ​$36,000 price point​, a ​31 minute charge time​ and a ​469km range* would rapidly accelerate the global market for EVs.

For more insights,​ ​download the ​Accelerating the EVolution​ ​report and ​infographic.

Source

*Tipping points and supporting figures are based on our 2020 survey. More information can be found in the Accelerating the EVolution report and infographic at www.castrol.com/ev .

Abstract: Commercial vehicles with fuel cell drivetrain for heavy duty long-haul

Roland Dold, Truck Product Engineering – TP/VEP, Daimler AG, Germany

The class of heavy-duty commercial vehicles used in long-distance haulage with their typical application and usage profiles and the typical drives with average installed power in the 350 kW to 400 kW range cause by far the largest share of CO2 emissions worldwide in the road vehicle sector.

Because of this fact, politicians have enacted and put into force CO2 regulations for the most important markets and regions, which regulate the vehicle class of heavy long-distance vehicles in a special way. With VECTO, e.g. the EU has introduced an EU uniform procedure that divides all commercial vehicles on the market into technical classes and prescribes CO2 savings for the fleet of 15% in 2025 and 30% in 2030 compared to the reference year 2019.

Hydrogen as an energy carrier and the fuel cell as an energy converter for electrically powered heavy commercial vehicles lead to significant advantages, especially for long-distances.

It is to be expected that the regulations relevant to the approval of vehicles in heavy long-distance traffic will change only insignificantly in the period up to 2030 and that the 4×2-semitrailer tractor in the EU will continue to dominate the target segment. Within technical limits, the challenge is to achieve the highest possible ranges with very short refueling times.

This has a significant influence on the technology of the vehicle. The presentation will give detailed insights into the overall vehicle architecture and the core components.

Abstract: MAHLE’s contribution to the defossilization of the transport sector

Dr Jörg Stratmann, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, MAHLE Group, Germany

The transport sector accounts for almost one quarter of the global annual CO2-emissions, therefore significant contributions are needed in order to meet the sector target. At the same time, however, it is out common goal to secure individual mobility. To reconcile the diverse mobility needs with the ambitious carbon neutrality targets, a broad variety of of technological solutions is required. By enabling the change towards non-fossile technologies and exploiting the potentials of all available powertrain technologies, MAHLE contributes substantially to defossilizing the transport sector.

We advocate a holistic approach to effectively reduce global CO2 emissions both in the transport sector and beyond. In order to ensure a sustainable contribution to the global reduction of CO2 emissions, all lifecycle CO2 emissions as well as cross-sectoral effects must be taken into consideration. We show that only an approach that encompasses a broad range of efficient powertrain technologies will ultimately allow us to achieve significant, cross-sectoral CO2 savings.

Abstract: Challenges in system-oriented design of electric drives

Prof. Dr Markus Henke, Managing Director Institute for Electrical Machines, Traction and Drives, TU Braunschweig, Germany

The design of electrical machines is considered system-oriented and holistically. For the electromagnetic machine design, energy supply and control, cooling possibilities and material properties are included in the design process. These methods are illustrated by current research questions concerning the electric machine in the drive train, especially for drive applications in autonomous vehicles. Even at a very early design stage, boundary conditions arising from the vehicle system are taken into account in the electromagnetic design process. Due to increasingly dynamic reactions and interactions between mechanical and electrical systems in the energy conversion process, new design steps are necessary. These will be addressed in the context of the presentation.

Abstract: Electrified heavy-duty transport from the perspective of research and industry

Claas Bracklo, Senior Consultant Electromobility, German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Germany

Dr Patrick Plötz, Head of Business Unit Energy Economics, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), Germany

CO2-Emissions of Trucks have to be reduced at least 30% by 2030 compared to 2019/2020. This requests emission free drive trains in long haul transport. The availability of rechargeable battery electric trucks in the coming years is announced from the OEMs Battery electric trucks can benefit from scaling effects in the passenger car business and promise economical attractiveness. The transport profiles are more challenging concerning charging technology, as it is requested to recharge the battery within short time, with an impact on charging power and the energy supply. First applications will start with the established Combined Charging System CCS at 350 kW. Increased megawatt charging power based on CCS has to be standardized, developed and evaluated. The industry has to supply the charging technology together with the vehicles, the high energy supply has to be planned and secured within the overall energy system. The first important step for a secure market introduction is the modelling of a nationwide charging infrastructure network covering the needs of electrified transport and growth potential in conjunction with the market penetration. The international standardization of a worldwide unified charging system is the prerequisite for further scaling effect and market adoption.

Tomorrow’s powertrains – more efficient, more powerful, more complicated?

Powertrain electrification has given innovation an enormous boost – and the desire and need to further reduce CO2 emissions will accelerate that development in future. As a result, we can expect ongoing improvements to existing solutions and the development of innovative new concepts.

CTI symposia – an eye for essentials
The architectures of electrified powertrains, with their subsystems and components, have become more complex. Various hybrid drive versions now compete, and powertrains use multiple motors in different roles. All-electric drives are also highly diverse, with new options being added all the time. This obscures the path forward, and drives up development costs.

Sophisticated drive design – from battery stack to in-wheel motor
CTI SYMPOSIUM Germany will show how intelligent strategies can master this growing complexity, and how the most promising solutions can be filtered out systematically from the wealth of possibilities. It will also make clear that in order to optimise powertrains, developers need to think even more holistically – a process that now involves focussing more strongly on energy storage systems.

New Energy runs in the family – developing a flexible transmission concept
The future belongs to powertrains with different levels of electrification. This means vehicle fleets urgently require multiple new energy solutions. One thing the different approaches have in common is the growing complexity of their powertrain structures. In response to these challenges, GETEC has designed a new energy product family that will be presented at CTI SYMPOSIUM Germany by Sven Steinwascher (GETEC, Germany).

The transmission concept is designed for use in EV, REEV (Range Extender EV) and DHT applications. The development goal was to use as many common parts as possible for subsystems and components, in order to reduce costs and development times for each product in the family. The outcome of the concept study was a two-speed power shiftable gear train as the base for the various applications. For EVs, the gear train will be equipped with an EM on the input side. For REEVs, an additional e-motor will be added that is directly connected to the ICE (P1 type) to also permit series hybrid mode. For DHTs, the REEV application will also be fitted with a separation clutch to allow a direct mechanical gear from the ICE to the wheels. This will enable full hybrid functionality including boost mode, load point adaption, series and parallel hybrid mode. This flexibility will enable OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to respond quickly to dynamic market challenges. As part of his presentation, Sven Steinwascher will also summarise the development conditions of complex powertrain systems under high market pressure.

Dedicated hybrid powertrains – high-level optimisation
When it comes to achieving short- and medium term CO2 targets, dedicated hybrid powertrains (DHP) provide a good cost-efficiency ratio. At this level of hybridisation, powertrains comprise an ICE and an e-motor with a Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT). “DHPs have been optimised over several generations for high efficiency and low complexity,” says Dr Wolfgang Wenzel (BorgWarner, Germany) in his lecture. “The goals were to improve fuel economy and reduce the high cost of the electrical components.“

Cost-wise, DHPs are attractive because they combine electric motors with simplified transmissions and combustion engines. They boost efficiency by keeping the ICE running in the sweet spot, and by recuperating energy. In a simulation study, Dr Wolfgang Wenzel compared the design requirements, CO2 potential and performance of various dedicated HEV hybrid powertrains for a C-segment vehicle. The study compared two well-known concepts – power split and multi-mode DHT – with a 4-gear DHT and a parallel P2 architecture with DCT, which served as the benchmark. The hybrid controller used the Equivalent Consumption Minimizing Strategy (ECMS). Key aspects of the study include optimising transmission designs for use cases by incorporating driving requirements, identifying individual influences and their effect on the system, and a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each main approach. DHPs have great potential for further development; in his lecture, Dr Wolfgang Wenzel will illustrate some of these opportunities.

More compact, more efficient – battery and e-axle as an optimised overall system
Like drives, energy storage systems play a prominent role in electric vehicles. In the early days, issues like range anxiety and charging times tended to dominate the discussion. Today, developers are factoring battery / e-axle interaction into their powertrain designs. A new joint venture by the Chinese Evergrande Group and German engineering specialist Hofer Powertrain aims to develop the optimal battery / e-axle combination for different individual overall systems. In his lecture, Hartmut Schneeweiss (Evergrande hofer Powertrain, Germany) will present the results of a simulation process that examined the interaction between EMs with an optimised transmission unit and new energy storage strategies.

The process focus rested on improving the electric axle in ways that would also permit the energy storage system to be downsized in terms of size, power and weight. There were three main objectives: to operate the e-axle in the ’sweet spot’ more frequently; to reduce material and power consumption for the e-axle drive, and to reduce battery volume and weight via a new, multifunctional design. This involved downsizing all electrical components while improving the vehicle’s overall energy balance. In an iterative simulation process, the best component combinations (e-axle / battery) were identified and evaluated with incremental improvement. Function blocks were defined, and their potential continuously re-tested. Within these function blocks, developers could alter factors such as new battery cell technology, SuperCaps, new semiconductor materials and different e-machine types as desired. Finally, a product specification for a new e-axle and a recommendation for an energy storage system were created.

In-wheel motors – making space for innovative solutions
Unlike e-axles, which are based on a classic drive model, in-wheel motors use a fundamentally different concept. Obvious benefits include independent torque control at each wheel for greater safety and manoeuvrability, and weight and energy savings achieved by removing unnecessary components such as transmissions and power transmission components.

In his lecture, Richard Burke (Protean Electric, Great Britain) will take these qualities as a given and will address a different aspect that may prove more decisive in future: namely, the fact that in-wheel motors are extremely compact and require no extra space in the chassis. To specifically assess the potential benefits, Protean has modelled the chassis structure and interior spaces of a range of EVs. Options under consideration include modifying the wheelbase, and packaging the battery in the space gained. Unlike e-axles, which tend to constrain passenger car design options, in-wheel motors could afford designers a new level of freedom in future.

Electric Vehicles – meet your new buyers!
In 2009, people who owned a Tesla Roadster felt like pioneers. Eleven years on, electric vehicles are established in the market, with dozens of new models planned to arrive the next few years. These next-generation vehicles are encountering a new generation of buyers.

In his analysis, Mike Dovorany (Escalent, USA) will focus on customers and speak of a ‘tipping point’ brought about by the fact that newly developed electric vehicles differ significantly from their predecessors in terms of performance (longer range and shorter charging times), design and functionality. “As a result, they are already attracting very different buyers than EVs in the last decade.” In an informative comparison with first-generation buyers (2009 – 2019), Mike Dovorany will detail the specific characteristics of this new generation. Taking market-specific differences between Europe, China and the USA into account, he will present the latest research results and address common misunderstandings. As his lecture will show, it’s not just automobiles that change over time – buyers and drivers do too.

CTI SYMPOSIUM Germany goes online – and boosts its energy density
Discover CTI SYMPOSIUM GERMANY 2020 as a top quality, inspiring online event! The new format offers you multiple ways to interact and communicate with speakers, attendees, and exhibitors, including live video calls. Experience the new SYMPOSIUM DIGITAL EXPO as your platform for new products, live presentations, 1on1 meetings and much more besides. The substantial reduction in attendance fees is not just extremely budget friendly, it also means more colleagues can participate. Best of all, there’s no travelling: all you do is log in. Save time and money with a convenient online event that adapts to your individual schedule, and reduces your carbon footprint too. Be there – be a pioneer!