The Bosch Group is an international technology and service company with, according to its own information, 390.000 employees worldwide and, according to preliminary figures, achieved sales of 73,1 billion euros in fiscal year 2016. The Mobility Solutions division is a division that acts as a solution provider in cooperation with developed new system solutions for automobile manufacturers. In a short interview with Inga Ehret, press spokeswoman for Mobility Solutions at Robert Bosch GmbH, we take a look at new developments in the field of electromobility.
gcm: The electric axle drive system from Bosch called eAxle celebrated its world premiere at the NAIAS. Can you introduce us to the main innovations in the system?
The powertrain has the potential to give the market for electric vehicles a further boost. A drive train for electric or hybrid vehicles currently consists of individual components. In the future, the electric axle drive system from Bosch will combine transmission, e-machine and power electronics in one compact housing. This reduces the complexity of the electric drive and makes the drive train significantly cheaper, more compact and more efficient. For example, many plugs, cables, seals and bearings can be dispensed with during production. The overall construction is designed so that the drive train can be scaled. This makes the system significantly more economical and vehicle manufacturers can reduce production costs for both electric and hybrid vehicles.
gcm: The heat pump is increasingly replacing the conventional auxiliary heater in the car. What solutions does Bosch offer and what effects can they achieve?
Consumers know the principle of the heat pump from their refrigerator. There the device generates cold inside and the heat generated during the process escapes into the kitchen. With the new thermal management for electric vehicles, a pump with 1.000 watts of electrical output creates heat corresponding to a heating output of 2.000 to 3.000 watts. Conventional auxiliary heaters, which heat the interior of a hybrid or electric vehicle, are only half as efficient. The heat and cold that accumulates in the vehicle is picked up where it occurs via finely adjustable coolant pumps and valves from Bosch and transported to where it is needed.
Heat pumps and intelligent thermal management take electric cars a lot further - and that is meant literally. For a city driving cycle, for example, in which a large proportion of the battery energy is required to heat the cabin in winter, the range advantage can be quite large: around 25 percent. On the other hand, on the freeway, a larger part of the total battery energy is used for actually driving the vehicle. A range extension of around 5 percent is possible here in winter.
Heat pumps are increasingly being used to supplement traditional cabin heating methods, to increase the range and cabin comfort of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. We have many thermal management products that can support heat pump technology, such as cooling module fans, coolant pumps and valves, or pressure and temperature sensors for the thermal system.
gcm: With which manufacturers and specifically in which car models are these systems currently and in the near future used?
We currently see the largest number of heat pump applications at European and Asian OEMs, but we expect heat pump equipment rates to increase in all regions.
Addendum:
Interview green car magazine with Inga Ehret, press spokeswoman for Mobility Solutions at Robert Bosch GmbH
Cover picture: Inga Ehret, press officer for Mobility Solutions at Robert Bosch GmbH - Copyright Bosch
green car magazine issue IV - 2017
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