» A KEY DRIVER BEHIND THE DEMAND FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES
IS DRIVING PLEASURE, AS THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE IS
CERTAINLY VERY ATTRACTIVE – NO MATTER WHETHER YOU
ARE TRAVELLING LONG OR SHORT DISTANCES. «
KLAUS KÜPPER,
AVL Executive Chief Engineer Systems,
Software & Vehicle Engineering and Technology Powertrain Systems
F O C U S 1 1
In product portfolio plans,
electric vehicles are fundamental to
achieving the fleet targets in all markets.
Where BEVs previously accounted
for only a small market
share, OEMs and tiers are now facing
growing shares of electric vehicles. A
heavily debated aspect of electric vehicles
is customer acceptance, particularly
when it comes to driving range,
charging infrastructure and charging
time, not to mention costs. This is
the reason why AVL has chosen to
focus its attention on these very important
attributes. “Alongside the legal
regulations and the calls for less
CO2 and local emission-free zones,
end-customer requirements are fueled
by two major factors. On the
one hand there’s this desire to drive
environmentally-friendly, zero-emission
cars, and on the other there is
driving pleasure. All-electric vehicles
offer an entirely different driving experience.
No matter whether you’re
traveling long or short distances, for
example in the city, the driving experience
is certainly very attractive.
That’s why, the market for BEVs will
continue to grow” forecasts Klaus
Küpper, AVL Executive Chief Engineer
Systems, Software & Vehicle
Engineering and Technology Powertrain
Systems.
As battery electric vehicles will in future
also have to be designed for longdistance
drives, suppliers and automotive
manufacturers face a whole
series of questions that demand serious
attention and efficient solutions:
How to increase the vehicle’s range
and power output without adversely
affecting the vehicle weight? How to
make sure that BEVs are optimized
for long distances in view of charging
duration (keyword “fast charging”)?
How to keep costs low to ensure
high BEV production quantities
on the market?
800 VOLTS: HALF THE CHARGING
TIME, HIGHER POWER,
LOWER WEIGHT
To extend the driving range of BEVs,
it is crucial to take the climatic conditions
outside and inside of the vehicle
into account, and to optimize vehicle
batteries in terms of their ability to
recharge fast. Klaus Küpper: “Battery
cells have what we call a ‘comfort
zone’ between 10 °C and 35 °C,
in which they function optimally. As
fast charging is a process in which
a battery releases a lot of energy in
the form of heat, it is a topic that
has to be addressed adequately, because
high thermal loads have a negative
effect on the batteries’ charging
and aging process. So, in addition to
AVL’s 800-volt approach, which can
achieve twice the charging speed of
conventional 450-volt voltage limits,
AVL is now engaged in the development
of efficient battery cooling systems.”
Just as a comparison: In 2012,
the high-tech company confirmed its
technology leadership in the area of