The market is undergoing transition. Megatrends such as battery electric vehicles (BEV), the software-defined vehicle, and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Autonomous Driving (ADAS/AD) are changing the market on a large scale and permanently. Software and battery system are becoming integral parts of the vehicle concept. This requires knowledge of the entire vehicle and its interacting subsystems. Chassis, thermal management, electrics/electronics (E/E), and ADAS must be harmonized with the driveline and other vehicle systems. This is the only way to integrate all systems and thus end up with a balanced finished product.
It is against this background that we expanded our portfolio and are now one of the leading providers of solutions for the entire development process – from driveline to whole vehicle. Our services cover both future vehicle architectures and platform solutions. In addition, we develop and integrate new drivelines and energy sources, E/E systems, chassis, thermal management, and modern Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
Rapid Market Launch
Going into series production quickly is crucial for staying ahead of the competition. Costs should also be as low as possible, and quality as high as possible.
We use specially developed methods and exploit all virtual options to help you achieve your goals faster: We can formulate and verify the technical basis early on, thus bringing the start of production (SOP) forward significantly.
Customer-Oriented Vehicle
The connected vehicle should be balanced and sustainable, as well as economical to manufacture and operate.
Our holistic perspective and our functional orientation throughout the development process enable us to bear all these topics in mind at all times. We harmonize all the requirements for the vehicle systems in terms of function and attributes, thus supporting you in developing your vehicle consistently at a very early stage.
In order to position vehicles in a market segment successfully and meet customer requirements, we make use of proven engineering skills, functional development, and attribute engineering. With our reliable systems engineering approach, which we combine with the latest virtual validation methods, we balance the sometimes contradictory effects of vehicle attributes. These include:
- Passive safety vs. vehicle weight
- Battery configuration vs. seating comfort
- Rear-wheel drive vs. spaciousness
- Modularity vs. scalability of platform
- Battery width vs. vehicle width
After all: A balanced compromise is crucial to convince the end user of your product. We always meet legal requirements and ensure that your vehicle has unmistakable characteristics.
Vehicle Development
When developing new vehicles, we focus on functionality; from target definition to evaluation. Considering the whole vehicle enables us to ensure ideal vehicle functionality and fully optimize individual components. Benefit from our extensive portfolio:
- Function-based and system-based vehicle development and evaluation, factoring in platform, packaging, E/E, energy management and thermal management, handling, and dynamics
- SOP development with engineering partners; from defining targets to start of production
- Supplier selection and qualification, definition and monitoring of supply chain as well as production technology
Development and Integration of Vehicle Systems
During integration, it is important to resolve and reconcile conflicting goals of vehicle attributes and systems. For example, a long range also requires corresponding battery capacity. Which means more weight. However, in order to ensure stable cornering and driving dynamics, the whole vehicle should be as light as possible.
We use our methods and tools to develop innovative solutions for all vehicle systems. This makes it easier for you to manage the growing complexity of the whole vehicle and its subsystems, and you get a vehicle that is balanced in every respect.
Development of Vehicle Functions and Software
Electrification in particular requires new vehicle architectures. And the function development and integration of E/E and software is becoming a time-critical task.
Our holistic functional approach helps you to significantly reduce development time. Our corporate organization is also set up functionally, which allows us to access all necessary development resources quickly and efficiently for cross-system functions. Through holistic simulation and our own toolchain, we facilitate optimal frontloading.
Thermal Management and HVAC
Cooling and air conditioning are becoming increasingly important, especially in battery electric vehicles. On the one hand, it is important to create pleasant conditions in the vehicle cabin, on the other hand, the individual components also have their "comfort zone". Both must be taken into account for efficient thermal management.
We support all driveline layouts, from the initial concept to SOP, with intelligent control measures. These include heat pump solutions, new coolants, predictive air conditioning control, and innovations for autonomous driving. Our services cover the following topics:
- Thermal comfort
- Thermal conditioning
- Intelligent operating strategies
- BEV thermal management
- Fuel cell thermal management
- Component technology
From the smallest increase in efficiency to the complete vehicle – you can always rely on us as your partner:
- In-depth knowledge of the field of drive development and deep understanding of integration into the whole vehicle.
- In-house simulation tools that shorten and simplify the development process. A high level of model quality enables future vehicle behavior to be predicted early on.
- Cross-divisional focus on vehicle functions. No matter in which system the function is located – we focus on it, thus avoiding competing system layouts.
News
Moving steadily into the future: Find out what’s brand new in the field of vehicle engineering.
