|
|
 |
|
Viewing report
|
|
|
|
Automotive Briefings Package
SupplierBusiness, May 2010, Pages: 81
This package contains all 5 SupplierBusiness Briefings:
Alternative Automotive Fuels
According to a November 2009 study by the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) and the Association of the German Biofuel Industry (VDB), the International Energy Agency currently anticipates an estimated reduction in global oil production from over 80m barrels of petroleum per day to between 40m and 76 million by 2030. And this at a time when the transport sector's share of total petroleum consumption is rising.
Add to this: reduced exports from oil producing nations; falling or uncertain availability following imminent Peak Oil production; increasing demand for oil in new and emerging economies; and tighter regulation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and the pressure to find Alternative Automotive Fuels (AAFs) becomes obvious.
This pressure has already had an impact in the automotive sector where alternative fuel vehicles such as EVs and HEVs are now available from all major OEMs. But for the foreseeable future, electricity alone cannot meet all the world s up-coming energy requirements for transport. And since according to the US Energy Information Authority, around 64% of petroleum used in 2008 went on automotive fuels, alternatives are needed urgently. Consequently, considerable efforts are being globally to develop alternative and sustainable automotive fuels.
This SupplierBusiness Briefing focuses on the most common alternatives to traditional automotive petrochemical-based liquid fuels. The briefing does not consider nuclear materials or the hydrogen economy.
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning in EVs
Until recently, finding the energy to heat or cool the cabin of a passenger car or other vehicle has been straight forward. Internal combustion engines (ICEs) were relatively inefficient, and since much of the energy loss appears as heat, this was used to warm the vehicle's cabin. Heating was therefore a by-product of driving.
Equally, the energy required to drive the Air Conditioning (AC) and cool the cabin was also readily available, the main penalty being increased fuel consumption.
This situation changes when cars are powered by a modern ICE, an electric motor or a hybrid powertrain. These power plants are comparatively more efficient than earlier gasoline ICE units, and so there is less waste heat available to warm the interior of the vehicle. In EVs, the situation is particularly acute because little excess heat is generated by the motor. And preserving operational range is a high priority, the high energy requirement of AC is a problem.
To overcome this problem, OEMs fit EVs with an auxiliary heater. And as with vehicles having modern thermally efficient diesels, the technology of choice is currently a ceramic-based Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heater. This is an understandable trend because PTC heaters have been used in the automotive sector for many years and fitting them in EVs is a natural extension of this application.
Japanese Battery Suppliers
Since the launch of the first-generation Prius and Insight hybrids in the late 1990s, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. have accounted for 90% of an estimated 3 million gas-electric and pure-electric vehicles sold around the world while their main battery suppliers, Panasonic EV Energy Co. (PEVE) and Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., have a more than 95% share.
Analysts are projecting that upwards of 15% of global vehicle demand will be hybrids and EVs by 2020. Out of a total market expected to grow to 100 million units, that comes to more than 15 million cars and trucks that will need battery power for at least part of their operation.
To achieve this level of sales many technical and operational problems must still be resolved, the biggest being battery cost.
Noise, Vibration and Harshness in Electric Vehicles
The advent of cars with electric power trains, whether hybrid or battery electric vehicles, presents new challenges to Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) engineers. The electric drive trains at low speeds are far quieter than internal combustion engines (ICE), which allow sounds that have been masked in traditional cars to emerge. Additionally, the electric machines create their own new noises and vibrations. And for hybrid vehicles (HEV), there is the additional challenge of transitional sounds between ICE and electric drive.
Finally, there is the problem of too little noise when running on electricity, which has led groups representing blind persons to campaign for a minimum noise level in vehicles. Engineers are using simulation and traditional testing to reduce noises that annoy passengers and design sounds that will please them or warn the world outside the car.
Induction Charging for Electric Vehicles
Induction Charging for Electric Vehicles, a SupplierBusiness Briefing, takes the industry's pulse on the practicality, technology and issues associated with cable free charging of Electric Vehicles. It includes the views of key players, suppliers and OEMs and will be of value to all those involved in finding and delivering HEV and EV automotive solutions.
For example, cable connections are vulnerable both to vandalism and those having ‘fun' with charging stations in public places. Given the high voltages involved, the issue of safety comes to the fore. Then there is the issue that human nature will always push consumers towards the solution requiring the least effort. This is borne out by consumer research from Nissan which suggests that 61% of potential EV customers worry about the inconvenience of plugging in to recharge.
Consequently, there is a growing opinion in the industry that a cabled approach to EV charging may only be an interim solution which will eventually be overtaken by the convenience and safety of cable free or induction charging.
|
|
|
|
