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AUTOMOTIVE
ENGINEERING ®
Optimizing
Hybrids
Integrated solutions
for advancing the
electrified IC engine
ALSO:
Powertrain supplier
insights
The EV heat pump
Achates OPOC update
April 2021 autoengineering.sae.org

WE DON’T FEAR
MASSIVE CHANGE
WE CREATE IT
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CONTENTS
FEATURES REGULARS
18 Optimizing hybrids for cost 4 Editorial: The 1,000-hp hype machine
and efficiency COVER STORY 6 Supplier Eye
AVL engineers detail a modular engine program suitable for all
A hard look at new sourcing strategies
forms of hybridization.
8 Technology Report
27 Powertrain Supplier Insights PROPULSION 8 Aluminum dominates for EV battery
enclosures — for now | MATERIALS
27 ICE: Once more, with feeling
11 Inkjet ingenuity for the automotive paint shop |
BorgWarner CSO sees at least one more generation of the ICE
MANUFACTURING
before its ‘sunset.’
12 Aiming for the 5-minute EV recharge |
28 Actuating hybrid and EV efficiency ELECTRIFICATION
More sophisticated driveline-disconnect systems are part of the 15 Road Ready

electrified-vehicle future, says the head of controls at Stoneridge.
15 2022 Bolt EUV: Super Cruise ADAS comes
to Chevrolet
29 The world’s piston maker charts
the ICE future 33 Product Briefs
According to Mahle’s research VP, the remaining development Spotlight: Propulsion Systems Simulation
path for internal combustion is clean, electrified and ready for & Analysis Tools
alternative fuels.
46 Q&A
30 Pumping EV heat ELECTRIFICATION Achates Power’s Larry Fromm details the route
to bringing the company’s opposed-piston,
Heat-pump technology is a game-changer for the widespread adoption compression-ignition, multi-fuel engine to series
of electric vehicles, says a service-tech training expert and EV owner. production in 2024.
48 Companies Mentioned, Ad Index
ON THE COVER Follow us on social media

Technical innovations aimed at further improving the efficiency of
combustion engines are expected to continue well into the middle
of this century. Hybridization is a key to ICE optimization, as
AVL engineers detail in this month’s cover story beginning on page
18. Our cover image is a ghosted illustration of the 2020 Chevrolet @SAEAutoMag @saeaei SAE Magazines
Orlando, a 48-V hybrid sold in China. (Image: Chevrolet)
Automotive Engineering®, April 2021, Volume 8, Number 3. Automotive Engineering
15
(ISSN 2331-7639) is published in January/February, March, April, May, June, July/August,
September, October, November/December by Tech Briefs Media Group, an SAE International
Company ®, 261 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1901, New York, NY 10016 and printed in Mechanicsburg,
PA. Copyright © 2021 SAE International. Annual print subscription for SAE members: first
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free demos are available at www.saedigitallibrary.org.
(ISSN 2331-7639 print)
(ISSN 2331-7647 digital)
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EDITORIAL NY, NJ, OH:
Ryan Beckman
+1.973.409.4687
Bill Visnic
rbeckman@techbriefs.com
Editorial Director
Bill.Visnic@sae.org PA/DE:
Desiree Stygar
EDITORIAL
Lindsay Brooke
+1.908.300.2539
Editor-in-Chief
dstygar@techbriefs.com
Lindsay.Brooke@sae.org
Midwest/Great Lakes:
Paul Seredynski
IN, MI, WI, IA, IL, MN
Senior Editor
Chris Kennedy
Paul.Seredynski@sae.org
+1.847.498.4520, x3008
Ryan Gehm ckennedy@techbriefs.com
Associate Editor
Midwest/Central Canada:
Deflating the 1,000-horsepower hype machine
Ryan.Gehm@sae.org
KS, KY, MO, NE, ND, SD, ON, MB
Jennifer Shuttleworth Bob Casey
Associate Editor +1.847.223.5225
Great fanfare has been lavished on the thermal management and materials. Jennifer.Shuttleworth@sae.org bobc@techbriefs.com
growing field of battery-electric pickup Jaws no longer drop at the mention Lisa Arrigo Southern CA, AZ, NM,
Custom Electronic Rocky Mountain States:
trucks that is poised to enter the U.S. of emissions-compliant V8s with SAE- Products Editor Tim Powers
Lisa.Arrigo@sae.org +1.424.247.9207
market. Everybody and their brother certified power ratings of over 700 hp tpowers@techbriefs.com
want in. I’m already losing track of the (522 kW). Such numbers are typical of Contributors Northern CA, WA, OR,
Western Canada:
new nameplates that claim to be electric- 11-liter heavy diesels engineered to pull Kami Buchholz Twyla Sulesky
Detroit Editor
truck “manufacturers” – a title whose 80,000-lb (36,000 kg) loads across +1.408.779.0005
tsulesky@techbriefs.com
Stuart Birch
legitimacy can only come from actually Iowa. Most pickups do little more than European Editor
making and selling vehicles. How many of household errands or tow the ski boat Terry Costlow International
Electronic Technologies Editor
the new “OEMs” will end up as flashes in up to the lake. And for such moderate Europe – Central & Eastern:
Bradley Berman Sven Anacker
the pan, incinerating their investors’ mon- duty cycles, 1,000 electrified ponies U.S. West Coast Editor +49.202.373294.11
ey, is still to be determined. might be a bit overkill, don’t you think? Sebastian Blanco, Don Sherman,
sa@intermediapro.de
Sabine Schoett
I’m not optimistic that more than one or A longstanding beef of mine: When Paul Weissler +49.202.373294.13
ss@intermediapro.de
two will survive long enough to compete electronic engine management and fuel
with the incumbents, once a robust, high- injection began to revive ICE perfor- DESIGN Europe – Western:
Chris Shaw
+44.1270.522130
volume EV market arrives. mance in the late 1980s, Lois Erlacher chris.shaw@chrisshawmedia.co.uk
Creative Director
Americans love their pick-
ups, but there isn’t enough
Four-digit after a 15-year doldrum,
the industry failed to hail
Ray Carlson
Associate Art Director
China:
Alan Ao
love to sustain more than a horsepower is their invigorated pow-

+86.21.6140.8920
alan.ao@sae.org
few of the newcomers in this not the key to ertrains for what they are: SALES & Japan:
Shigenori Nagatomo
hyper-competitive segment. an important safety feature MARKETING +81.3.3661.6138
It’s interesting, however, mainstreaming that is directly modulated Joe Pramberger

Nagatomo-pbi@gol.com
electric pickup Publisher South Korea:

to watch the online Zoom by the right foot. joe@techbriefs.com Eun-Tae Kim
+82-2-564-3971/2
debuts and read the Every driver who has
amped-up press releases. trucks - or EVs in relied on acceleration to
Kaitlyn Sommer
Marketing Director
ksae1@ksae.org
general.
ksommer@techbriefs.com
Those jumping into the EV- escape injury or death will Martha Tress
Integrated Media
pickup arena are trying to attest to its safety attri- Recruitment Sales Manager Consultants
+1.724.772.7155
Christian DeLalla
establish a brand by differentiating with bute. But OEM legal departments will Martha.Tress@sae.org
+1.973.841.6035
feature content. One attribute, however, is never permit Horsepower to be listed christiand@techbriefs.com
shared by nearly all of them: power. Did among the Safety Features on any new- REGIONAL Casey Hanson
+1.973.841.6040
someone decree that electric-pickup vehicle window sticker. SALES chanson@techbriefs.com
credibility must begin at 1,000 hp (746 Mashing the right-pedal rheostat in a North America Patrick Harvey
+1.973.409.4686
kW)? Why not 1,500 hp? The herd is 1,000-hp electric pickup might feel like New England/Eastern Canada: pharvey@techbriefs.com
ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, QC
ready to follow, as witnessed by the being fired out of a cannon. A gleeful Ed Marecki Todd Holtz
+1.973.545.2566
“arms race” for payload and towing capa- thought, but four-digit horsepower is +1.401.351.0274
emarecki@techbriefs.com tholtz@techbriefs.com
bility that has boosted heavy-duty pickup not the key to mainstreaming electric CT: Rick Rosenberg
+1.973.545.2565
specs into Kenworth territory. pickup trucks. Smaller, lighter, lower-cost Stan Greenfield
rrosenberg@techbriefs.com
+1.203.938.2418
Horsepower is a measurement of the batteries, traction motors, inverters and greenco@optonline.net Scott Williams
rate at which work is done. It differs from cooling systems are. They make for Mid-Atlantic/Southeast/TX: +1.973.545.2464
swilliams@techbriefs.com
DC, VA, WV, TN, NC, SC, GA, FL,
torque, which we know also plays a critical smaller, lighter, lower-cost propulsion AL, MS, LA, AR, OK, TX
Ray Tompkins
role in vehicle performance, payload and systems that are ideally engineered for +1.281.313.1004
towing. But it is horsepower that is head- smaller, lighter, lower-cost vehicles. rtompkins@techbriefs.com
lining the hype with electric pickups. The Rather than another arms race, these SUBSCRIPTIONS
+1.866.354.1125
EV stage has taken its cues from the inter- should be the industry’s focus. AUE@OMEDA.COM
nal-combustion arena, of course, where The first OEM to successfully sell an
turbocharged 4-cylinder engines comfort- affordable, pragmatically-powered elec-
ably exceed the 300-hp (224-kW) thresh- tric midsize pickup – no, an electric REPRINTS
Jill Kaletha
old that was formerly V8 domain. compact pickup – will have cracked the +1.574.347.4211
jkaletha@mossbergco.com
Four-hundred horsepower is the new code for EVs of all sizes, period. Which
200, thanks to advancements in airflow, OEM will that be?
ignition control, boosting, valve actuation, Lindsay Brooke, Editor-in-Chief

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With dSPACE as your partner in simulation and validation, safe autonomous vehicles become reality. dSPACE solutions
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SUPPLIER EYE
A hard look at new sourcing strategies
F
rom COVID to chips: Just as the industry port automated-driving functions that are be-
was beginning to put 2020 in the rear- ing dovetailed with EVs.
view mirror, it gets slammed with more How will this affect relationships up and down
supply-chain disruptions. Severe chip the supply tiers? As vehicle layouts, structures
capacity issues out of China, Taiwan and Korea and assembly processes change in the EV transi-
have interrupted vehicle assembly at some tion, some suppliers currently deemed Tier 1
OEMs. Once-in-a-century weather events in may, in the future, have to source into suppliers
Texas have caused shortages of critical chemical inserted between them and the OEM. This will
supplies. And global political/trade disputes potentially alter sales process, the value equa-
continue to brew across southeast Asia. While tion, warranty responsibility and other dealings.
many are arguing for a regional focus to auto- Software’s increasing value as a differentiator
motive sourcing, globally integrated supply re- Michael Robinet within the electrified-vehicle world adds tangen-
mains front and center. Executive Director tial participants and complexity that the me-
The current problems are, for the most part, IHS Markit chanical-era players never envisioned. As soft-
short term. But their dynamics are forcing a hard michael.robinet ware changes augment the ability to modify the
look at the sourcing strategies built around the @ihsmarkit.com driving experience through an OTA (over-the-
increasing volumes of electric vehicles coming in air) interface, its value as a tool to differentiate a
the next few years. Optimists believe that future brand and reduce cost risk is essential. Smart
supply chains for battery-electric vehicles (EV) Some suppliers suppliers understand that tomorrow’s value is
will be simpler than those supporting today’s
combustion-engine cars and trucks. Simpler de-
currently driven by the combination of software and hard-
ware working in concert.
sign, subsystems and bills of material, right? I’ll deemed Tier The shift to EVs and the recent microchip crisis
argue that’s wishful thinking.
One could make a case that by eliminating the
1 may, in the are forcing vehicle OEMs to redefine their supply
chains. This is already driving significant up-
traditional-ICE componentry, primarily fuel sys- future, have stream shifts. Larger automakers including
tems, exhaust and aftertreatment, and ICE-
specific NVH attenuation, the EV is essentially a
to source into General Motors and VW Group have insourced
design and manufacture of propulsion batteries
simple “skateboard” with a body atop. But such suppliers and e-drive systems. Many of the traditional
overt simplicity is deceptive. Future supply inserted driveline-system suppliers have seen the writing
chains within an EV ecosystem are destined to on the wall. They’ve been moving their research
become more complicated. They’ll be inter- between them and product development toward the new reality.
twined with several unconventional relationships and the OEM. The speed of innovation, risk mitigation and
and dependencies. efficient capital utilization are forcing new
How is that possible? At the root of EV com- OEM-supplier technology alliances. These, and
plexity is the advent of new innovations to en- the industry’s supply chains, will continue to
able safe, reliable and efficient optimization of keep pace with EV and AV growth throughout
electric propulsion and related systems. These this decade. While new economies of scale will
are expanding the breadth of the supply chain not happen overnight, ensuring adequate sup-
through more software, electronics, charging ply of automotive-grade semiconductors to
hardware and new battery materials. In step keep pace with BEVs and their expanding infra-
with these are the sensor suites, processors and structure is surely a need that must be met
endlessly updated software necessary to sup- sooner than later.

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TECHNOLOGY
REPORT
MATERIALS SAE INTERNATIONAL
Aluminum dominates for EV battery enclosures — for now BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jeff Hemphill
President
Todd Zarfos
2020 President
Srinivasa (Sri) Srinath, PhD
2022 President Elect
Susan Ying, PhD
Vice President – Aerospace
Ken Washington, PhD
Vice President – Automotive
Aluminum battery Michael Weinert
enclosures or other Vice President –
platform parts typically Commercial Vehicle
provide a weight savings
of 40% compared to an Andrew Jeffers
equivalent steel design. Treasurer
David L. Schutt, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Gregory L. Bradley, Esq.
Secretary
Pascal Joly
Aluminum is the dominant material for electric battery enclosures are of the 6000-series Al-
vehicle (EV) battery enclosures for one simple Si-Mg-Cu family, Afseth shared, noting that Jeff Varick
but significant factor: lightweighting capability. these alloys are “very well compatible” with Rhonda Walthall
All currently available long-range EVs — those end-of-life recycling. The current state-of-the-
that can travel beyond 250 miles (400 km) — art solution for bottom plates is high-strength Joan Wills
use aluminum as the main material for the bat- 6111 alloy in peak aged temper, which reduces
tery enclosure for that very reason, Dr. Andreas weight by 30% compared to the benchmark
Afseth, technical director for Constellium North 5754 O-temper alloy. SAE International Sections
SAE International Sections are local
America operations, said during a recent Center Constellium has a 4xxx alloy in development units comprised of 100 or more SAE
for Automotive Research (CAR) webinar. with 80-GPa E-modulus and 350-MPa yield International Members in a defined
technical or geographic area. The purpose
“Aluminum continues to be the fastest-grow- stress. A 40% weight reduction is “technically of local Sections is to meet the technical,
ing material in automotive application,” Afseth feasible” with the developmental 4xxx alloy. developmental, and personal needs of the
SAE Members in a given area. For more
said. Growth is driven in part by the increasing “You can think of this high-modulus 4000 se- information, please visit sae.org/sections
or contact SAE Member Relations Specialist
market share of EVs, including electric trucks ries alloy as a ‘very excess’ silicon 6000 series Abby Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
and vans, which already employ a greater alloy,” Afseth said, noting that gauges and
amount of aluminum than do conventional- widths will be similar to 6000. It is compatible
powertrain models — more than 640 lb (290 with conventional cold forming and is cost- SAE International
Collegiate Chapters
kg) in EV platforms compared to about 450 lb competitive, he said. Collegiate Chapters are a way for SAE
(205 kg) in non-EVs. A 7075 T6 alloy also is in development, offer- International Student Members to get
together on their campus and develop
“Electric trucks will require very large batter- ing offers 500-MPa yield stress and 70-GPa skills in a student-run and -elected
ies, maximum payload and minimum energy E-modulus. 7000-series alloys of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu environment. Student Members are vital
to the continued success and future of
consumption (operating costs),” he said. “There are not yet widely used in automotive applica- SAE. While your course work teaches
you the engineering knowledge you
will continue to be a very high value of light- tion, he noted. 7000 could be considered for bot- need, participation in your SAE Collegiate
weighting, so I would expect aluminum to be tom plates where impact resistance is key, but a Chapter can develop or enhance other
important skills, including leadership,
the material of choice.” point of “diminishing returns” likely will hinder its time management, project management,
Aluminum battery enclosures or other plat- use in this application. “At the moment, with the communications, organization, planning,
CONSTELLIUM
delegation, budgeting, and finance. For

form parts typically provide a weight savings manufacturing processes needed, this [additional more information, please visit students.
of 40% compared to an equivalent steel de- 10% weight savings] benefit probably doesn’t sae.org/chapters/collegiate/ or contact
SAE Member Relations Specialist Abby
sign. The most-used and best-suited alloys for cover the cost of using 7000,” Afseth said. Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
Enclosure design
The battery enclosure has a critical role
in crash energy management, both in
terms of preventing intrusion into the
battery cells as well as absorbing energy
to protect the passengers. A dual-frame
prototype illustrated by Constellium em-
ploys two different advanced extruded
alloys. The inner frame is made of
strength-optimized 6000 from the HSA6
The current state-of-the-art solution for bottom plates is high-strength 6111 alloy in peak aged temper,
family, while the outer reinforcement is a
but still-in-development alloys promise even better performance and additional weight savings.
ductile 6000 alloy of the HCA6 family.
“The inner frame’s main function is to
prevent intrusion into the cells even if it to eliminate the modules and then the increasingly bringing the development of
leads to fracture of the metal,” he said. enclosures and have cells directly inte- battery enclosures in-house rather than
“The outer reinforcement is designed to grated in the BiW, effective sealing and outsourcing to tier suppliers. “Most OEMs
crumple in a very controlled way with- joining will grow in importance.” and start-ups developing BEVs are at
out fracturing so the maximum amount If the industry shifts to solid-state bat- least considering aluminum enclosures if
of energy is absorbed.” teries, the function of the enclosure likely not actively developing them,” he said.
The concept of placing battery cells will shift, too. “We may see some load-
directly in the body-in-white (BIW) is bearing function in the solid-state battery Thermal challenges
CONSTELLIUM
“very interesting” and would remove cells themselves and therefore less struc- Despite lightweighting and recyclability
the redundancy of having a “box within tural demand on the enclosure,” Afseth benefits, aluminum enclosures fare less
a box,” he said. “If the trend continues said. Another trend he is seeing is OEMs favorably when thermal runaway occurs
ICU HV Connector HV Junction HV Charging

(Integrated Block Coupler
Central control Unit)
B FA
HV/LV Wiring Harness Built-in Cam Battery Disconnect Unit (Busbar Frame Assembly)
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TECHNOLOGY REPORT
The majority
of long-range
EVs in current
production
worldwide use
aluminum as the
main material
for the battery
enclosure.
“Soon, it may no longer be

economically beneficial to use
aluminum, especially for the
small cars that have moderate
range and target the lowest-
possible price point.”
— Dr. Andreas Afseth,
technical director for
A dual-frame prototype illustrated by Constellium employs two different advanced, extruded Constellium North America
6000-series alloys. operations
or if a vehicle catches fire. “Aluminum plate located below the cooling plate, today using aluminum is because at the
has very high thermal conductivity and heat is not a concern. Afseth said he time they were making their engineering
the melting point is 630°C,” Afseth said. does not see any issues regarding im- and material choices, this equation was
“A battery fire can reach 1200°C or more mersion cooling: “Aluminum alloys of super simple: You spend a few hundred
and the aluminum casing will last only a the 3000, 5000 and 6000 series are dollars more on the body structure and
short time before the metal melts. So, very well compatible and completely you save thousands of dollars on downsiz-
for the top cover either a heavier steel resistant to common coolant liquids.” ing the battery,” Afseth explained. “Today,
sheet or a fire-retardant loaded polymer at the current prices, it’s still strongly in
molding will resist longer and give the Move to multi-materials favor of aluminum designs, especially for
passengers more time to evacuate.” Justification for the over-cost of alumi- the larger vehicles like SUVs and trucks
Heat generated by the battery cells num structures is found in the second- that target long range. But soon, it may no
also can be a concern for aluminum en- ary mass and cost savings tied to being longer be economically beneficial to use
closures, especially for parts that are in able to downsize the battery and the aluminum, especially for the small cars
direct contact with the cells or other parts powertrain, Afseth stressed. But, as bat- that have moderate range and target the
of the high-voltage system that gets tery costs continue to drop, the value lowest possible price point.”
heated during charging or discharging. equation for aluminum may dissipate. Afseth said he sees a transition to
“My main concern would be with alloys In the past decade, battery cost has more mixed materials for battery enclo-
BOTH IMAGES: CONSTELLIUM
like 5182, which has more than 3.5 wt% fallen by almost a factor of ten, he not- sures in the coming years – but “very
Mg, as these may over time develop a ed, from about $1,000 kWh in 2010 to little” carbon fiber, which makes more
film of beta-phase precipitates at the less than $150 kWh last year. Energy sense in motorsports or ultra-luxury
grain boundaries which can result in de- density has almost tripled over the sports cars where cost is not an issue.
graded properties,” Afseth explained. same period, so batteries also weigh “Other, cheaper fiber-reinforced plastics
For parts of the enclosure that are much less than before. may grow more,” he added.
away from the cells, such as the bottom “Why we see all the long-range EVs Ryan Gehm

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
MANUFACTURING
Inkjet ingenuity for the automotive paint shop

Robotics’ specialist ABB has developed Complex paint
painting robots that use an inkjet-type schemes can be
printer head with over 1,000 individually applied by ABB’s new
controllable nozzles, enabling higher ac- system using one or
curacy and transfer efficiency in the auto- two robots without
motive paint shop, the company claims. the necessity for
masking.
The new robots have been designed to
meet end-customer demand for vehicle
individuality, particularly in the SUV seg-
ment. Typically, special OEM finishes de-
mand extensive masking and repeated
paint applications, adding significant time
and cost during manufacture.
Transfer efficiency refers to the ratio Automotive OEM. “By eliminating the paint flow, but instead uses the multiple
of sprayed coating that adheres to the creation of overspray, we can dispense nozzles to apply individual droplets of
substrate versus the overspray that with masking between different colors, paint to a surface, much like digital pix-
ends up as wasted material. “Removing we reduce paint wastage to zero, and els. Variable droplet control, combined
overspray from a factory paint process all that with greatly reduced operating with a novel inkjet design incorporating
may not sound that impressive – until costs. The flexibility of programming 1,000 nozzles within a 100-mm (4-in.)
you appreciate how many benefits are means the nozzles can also produce spread, facilitates faster and more ac-
created as a result,” said Joerg Reger, complex graphics in a single pass.” curate high-resolution printing of two-
ABB
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TECHNOLOGY REPORT
onto vehicle bodies. The result is “a high ELECTRIFICATION

level of detail,” according to Reger.
The droplets can be applied in sizes
Aiming for the 5-minute EV recharge
ranging from 20 to 50µm at a rate of over NAWA regards its
1,000 droplets per second. This enables nanostructured
more precise control of paint film thick- electrode as heralding
ness and also of overlapping, to achieve an EV battery step
required ultra-sharp definition of paint change.
edges whilst eliminating wasted mate-
rial. Because 100% of the paint is applied
to the bodywork surface, the typical 20%
overspray associated with typical electro-
static painting is said to be avoided.
Cost savings
Reger explained that PixelPaint permits a
second color or design to be applied
within an existing paint line without ex- A French nanomaterials company has de- charged and recharged, and can suffer
tending cycle times or adding manpower. veloped a technology that it claims can from safety and life-cycle issues. He
It also avoids installation of a special line significantly increase the storage efficien- said the micro-structures in today’s
or supplementary paint shop, supporting cy of electric vehicle batteries. NAWA electrode material make it difficult for
reductions in both capital and operating Technologies’ Ultra-Fast Carbon Electrode ions to move around, resulting in low
costs. Environmental performance is also (UFCE) is a key to bringing EV battery- ionic conductivity. The UFCE’s patented
improved as no paint is lost to drainage. charging time into parity with gasoline- VACNT design, he claims, combines the
PixelPaint can be used with ABB’s IRB refueling time, while improving battery “highest” ionic conductivity, thanks
5500 painting robot or with a high-preci- life-cycle performance by a factor of up to to its 3D fully accessible nanostructure,
sion handling robot, more commonly used five, according to company founder and with continuous conductors (the nano-
for seam sealing. ABB’s software package CTO, Pascal Boulanger. tubes) that exhibit optimum electrical
includes a user-friendly programming tool In an interview with Automotive and thermal conductivity. These charac-
called RobotStudio to enable offline pro- Engineering, Pascal Boulanger said the teristics eliminate thermal runaway is-
gramming for easy set-up and testing. UFCE technology can help deliver 1,000- sues, Boulanger said.
“Using PixelPaint enables auto manu- km (620-mi) operating range for mass- Mechanically, the VACNT serves as a
facturers to produce multiple, complex market EVs, with a time of five minutes for cage, reducing volume expansion of the
designs very quickly, meeting consumer an 80% charge. “The uniqueness of the electrode and allowing it to operate
tastes for individuality without incurring technology is its 3D structure and use of under less “stress” than powder elec-
extended production time and costs,” vertically aligned carbon nanotubes trodes: “Put simply, this means the dis-
Reger said. “With a customized paint job, [VACNT],” he noted. Each nanotube tance an ion needs to move is just a few
cycle times are reduced by 50 percent is formed from a graphene sheet that is nanometers through the cell material,
through the design being executable in a rolled in a cylindrical shape. The tubes instead of micrometers with a plain
single pass. When this is combined with have “the same aspect ratio [between electrode.” This “radically” boosts the
the other benefits such as improved utiliza- diameter and length]as a kilometer-long battery’s ability to deliver fast charge
tion of manual workers, we envisage very piece of spaghetti, with the electrode be- and discharge rates, he said. NAWA
significant improvements in productivity.” ing made of a hundred trillion of these previously demonstrated this in its
ABB also has introduced a compact tubes!” The UFCE technology is compat- next-generation ultracapacitors (known
interior paint station, which combines 12 ible with any advanced battery-cell chem- as the Ultra-Fast Carbon Battery),
robots to offer a space-saving alternative istry, he said. claimed to have “the lowest electrical
to traditional robotic interior systems. It is serial resistance on the market.”
claimed to reduce the footprint of current ‘Highest’ ionic conductivity Applying NAWA’s technologies to lithi-
paint booths by up to 33%. The system A major limitation of incumbent lithium- um-based cells would improve battery
can be integrated with other door, hood based battery performance is the de- power by a factor of 10 and energy stor-
BOTH IMAGES: NAWA
and trunk opening robots with the com- sign and material used for the elec- age by a factor of up to three, Boulanger
pany’s new IRB 5500-27 7-axis robot. An trode, Boulanger explained. Existing stated, with battery life cycle enhanced
enhanced working angle with improved powder electrodes have low electrical by up to five — and charging time re-
reach reduces robot population. and thermal conductivity, along with duced to minutes instead of hours.
Stuart Birch poor mechanical behavior when dis- “Normally, for a given technology — and

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
that’s the case for batteries using pow- Diagram of the 3D

ders — you have to find a compromise,” vertical technology for
he noted. “And if you increase energy EV batteries.
you will decrease power; if you acceler-
ate [the vehicle] you will consume more.
But there is something else in a battery
that is absolutely underestimated.”
EV owners have learned that the
more you drive, the faster you dis-
charge the battery. Unlike a tank of gas-
oline, EV energy consumption is not
linear. “This will also be the case for our
technology — however, at a higher level
of both power and energy, meaning
that you will have more margin and the Carbon nano-material synergies low. “We envision it can be similar in
‘over consumption’ will be lower, what- The 3D electrode is designed for manu- terms of dollars-per-square-meter to a
ever the state of charge,” Boulanger facturability, he said. The VACNT manu- coating, but with a lower bill-of-materi-
said. Initial results with NAWA’s devel- facturing process is “very similar” to the als coming from the natural and sustain-
opment partners, including battery gi- production of photovoltaics or industrial able carbon sources. We will have more
ant SAFT, show that an advanced lithi- glass treatment. Boulanger claimed that energy per square meter, the cost of that
um-ion battery with a UFCE minimal- nanotubes are “not expensive” to pro- energy will be lower in terms of dollars-
ly doubles the kW-h stored. “EVs could duce: the equipment is proven, and pro- per-watt-hour, too,” Boulanger said.
draw on more power to go faster but cesses are greatly improving both in In moving toward commercializa-
farther at the same time,” he said. throughput and yield, keeping costs tion, Boulanger is aware of the hurdles.

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
“There are various ways of introducing use in the battery industry. This method
our concept of 3D-electrode to the mar- will yield electrical performance and an-
ket,” he said. The easiest way to grow a choring of the electrode material that is
very thin layer of VACNT on a copper superior to the incumbents and can be
substrate to compete with existing car- ready in small volume production in 2021,
bon-coated copper substrates already in he said. Longer term, a real 3D and thick-
NAWA Technologies’ founder Pascal

Boulanger is confident that the company’s
advances will bring cost-effective solutions to
significantly boost EV practicality.
er UFCE “could be on the market in low

volumes by early 2023 in 3D electrode
form, reaching mass production in 2025.”
Potential applications of NAWA’s
UFCE technology extend into hydrogen
fuel cell systems. One uses NAWACap ul-
tra-capacitors to harvest energy that
would otherwise be lost. The UFCE also
can serve as an electrode for the fuel cell
membrane “because VACNT are known
to be able to reduce the loading of plati-
num,” thus saving cost, Boulanger said.
And materials developments by another
NAWA Group unit can reduce the weight
and improve the strength of the hydro-
gen carbon-composite storage tank.
NAWA America, based in Dayton, Ohio,
focuses on the commercialization of multi-
functional, ultra-strong composites.
Its NAWAStitch concept comprises a thin
film containing the same trillions of VACNT
arranged perpendicularly to carbon fiber
layers. Acting as “nano-Velcro,” this rein-
forces the weakest part of a composite -
the interface between the layers – de-
signed to greatly improveresistance to
shear and shock loading, stated Boulanger.
The 3D-UFCE and NAWAStitch are
complementary to another innova-
tion: NAWAShell. A structural hybrid bat-
tery incorporating VACNT, it provides both
enhanced mechanical strength and elec-
trical energy storage within the core of
the composite structure. In the future,
Boulanger sees “enormous potential in
combining NAWAStitch and NAWAShell
to create ultra-strong, multi-functional
lightweight materials that can also store
energy — for example, a solar roof panel
in a car that could generate energy stored
within the roof, with almost no additional
mass to the vehicle structure.”
Stuart Birch
14 April 2021 Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/79440-729 AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING

ROAD
READY
2022 Bolt EUV: Super Cruise ADAS comes to Chevy

used in the [2020] Cadillac CT6,” not-
ed Mantinan, who was along on the me-
dia drive. Both Chevy and Cadillac appli-
cations are based on an array of exterior
radars and cameras, an inertial sen-
sor and a small optical/infrared camera
on the steering column to monitor driver
attention. The high-definition 3D maps
that determine Super Cruise’s operating
domain are updated monthly in collabo-
ration with GM’s mapping partner, Ushr.
They now cover more than 200,000
miles (322,000 km) of enabled U.S. and
Canadian roads, up from 130,000
miles (209,000 km) in 2019. Routes re-
The 2022 Bolt EUV is 6 in. longer and 90-lb. heavier than Bolt EV. The vehicles share no exterior
main restricted to divided roadways.
body panels, to give each a distinctive look.
The Bolt EUV’s Super Cruise features
a new, second-generation driver moni-
General Motors has made the first step common to the two Bolts. They also toring camera that is more effectively
toward democratizing Super Cruise, its share the single permanent-magnet shielded against infrared waves of sun-
SAE Level 2 driver-assist system that is traction motor rated at 266 lb-ft (360 light entering through the backlite and
designed to reduce driver workload dur- Nm) driving the front axle. The EUV’s rear side windows. In the original 2018
ing long trips. In summer 2021, Super extra mass reduces its estimated driv- CT6 application, intruding low-angle
Cruise will be available on “Premier” ing range by nine miles (14.5 km) com- rays would intermittently disengage the
(top trim) versions of Chevrolet’s new pared with the smaller, lighter Bolt’s system. (See November 2017
2022 Bolt EUV. SAE’s Automotive estimated 259 miles (416 km). Automotive Engineering feature: https://
Engineering recently drove a pre-pro- www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/
duction EUV equipped with Super Cruise Super Cruisin’ Chevy sae/17AUTP11/index.) “We conducted a
in busy 80-mph (129-km/h) interstate In terms of sensor hardware, “This is es- sunlight study with a supplier, identified
traffic — an ideal scenario for evaluating sentially the same Super Cruise system the wavelengths that are least obtrusive,
a vehicle’s ADAS capabilities on the free-
way. Impressions were mixed.
About this newest Bolt: Don’t pro-
nounce it eyoove. The EUV is the quasi-
utility version of the Bolt EV sedan, with
unique exterior styling and no shared
body panels. The “U” model SUV has a
6-in. (152-mm) longer wheelbase and 3
in. (76 mm) more rear-seat leg room
than its sister EV. But the EUV’s mea-
sured cargo volume with rear seat fold-
ed actually is a few square-millimeters
less. And its rear end tapers in between
the thick C pillars, which also will limit
the vehicle’s hauling capability.
Bolt EUV’s curb weight, 3,679-lb
(1,669-kg), is 90 lb (41 kg) heavier than
ALL IMAGES: CHEVROLET
the Bolt EV mainly due to its larger

bodyshell, according to EUV program
engineering manager Rob Mantinan.
Some 947 lb (430 kg) of the EUV’s
mass is the 65-kW-h, liquid-cooled, Bolt EUV is GM’s first application of the SAE Level 2 Super Cruise driver-assistance technology
288-cell lithium-ion battery pack that is outside of the Cadillac brand.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING April 2021 15

ROAD READY
in the Cadillac applications.

So, how does Chevy’s first Super
Cruiser, and a battery-electric one at that,
perform? Soon after our media convoy of
six Bolt EUVs were quietly up to speed on
southbound U.S. I-275 headed toward
Toledo, Ohio, the system showed the ease
of operation and clarity in its visual cues
that earned Super Cruise widespread
praise in the Cadillacs.
However, in the author’s view, hands-
off-the-wheel motoring with any ad-
vanced ADAS or AV system isn’t “relax-
ing” — particularly when finding oneself
boxed in at speed between giant stone
haulers, their tandem trailers wagging
In this hatch-open view, the Bolt EUV’s cargo area appears to be much larger than it is in reality.
ominously close to the center-lane lines.
Total trust in the vehicle in such road
and designed the new camera around Escalade SUV. The lane-change iteration situations is vital, even when your hands
them,” explained Mantinan. is enabled by GM’s new Global-B electri- are gripping the wheel. Few of us not
The 2022 Bolt application, however, cal architecture that is not yet used in working directly in AV programs have
will not include Super Cruise’s new auto- the Bolt EV platform, according to com- sufficient seat time to enjoy that trust.
mated-lane-change function that is op- pany engineers. Over-the-air updates for At freeway velocity, with hands off the
tional on 2021 Cadillac sedans and the Super Cruise also are due to appear first wheel and eyes fixed on the road ahead
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ROAD READY
eligible customers who purchase or Bolt EUV’s U.S. retail base price is
lease a 2022 Bolt EUV or Bolt EV. GM’s $33,995. The EV starts at $31,995 — un-
strategy is to make at-home charging dercutting the ’21 model by more than
more convenient, faster and effective. $5,000. Super Cruise as part of the
Both of the 2022 Bolt models beat the Premier package on EUV is $2,200.
outgoing Bolt EV in retail price. The Lindsay Brooke
ZINC Die Casting Advantage

Precision Performance Price
The Advantages of Zinc Casting Alloys
Bolt EUV program engineering manager Faster production Excellent bearing properties
Rob Mantinan.
Extended tool life Thin wall capability
(per Super Cruise dictum), there was some Net shape casting EMI/RFI shielding
pronounced yaw and lateral motion in the Ƥ Excellent thermal conductivity
Bolt EUV. Not alarming, but the vehicle did
not feel planted within its lane. To our seat- Parts consolidation Fully recyclable
of-pants gauge, it was constantly adjust-
ing position in varying degrees. Superior Engineering Characteristics
By comparison, the CT6 with Super
Cruise upgrades we drove in early 2020
was a Rock of Gibraltar on the freeway –
its lane-centering was exemplary. That the
Bolt EUV felt a bit agitated in driver-as-
sist mode is likely related to its B-segment Joining Dimensional Stability Surface Finish
dimensions: the 105.3-in. (2675-mm)
wheelbase is 17 inches (432 mm) shorter
than that of the Cadillac CT6. The little EV
also is more than four inches (100 mm)
narrower than CT6. Expect algorithmic
refinements to improve Bolt EUV’s hands- Accuracy Thin Wall Capability Zero Draft Angles
off poise on the highway, prior to its ar-
rival at dealers this summer.
Charging changes
Both the 2022 Bolt EV and EUV now are
capable of 11-kW Level 2 charging. A new
‘dual level’ charge cord, standard on EUV
(and optional on the Bolt EV) has swap-
pable plugs to enable charging using a
standard 120-V three-prong outlet or
Level 2 (240-V) charging by simply
changing the plug on the cord. (Some
mid-priced MIG welders have offered sim-
ilar plug/voltage versatility for years).
As a bonus, Chevy is collaborating LLearn more att www.diecasting.zinc.org
di ti i
with Qmerit to cover standard installa-
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Optimizing hybrids
COVER STORY
FOR COST AND

EFFICIENCY
AVL engineers
detail a modular
engine program
suitable for
all forms of
hybridization.
Figure 1: Diversity of powertrain electrification by vehicle use.
T
he electrification of the powertrain is a prereq-
uisite to meet future fuel consumption limits,
while the internal combustion engine (ICE) will
remain a key element of most production-vol-
ume-relevant powertrain concepts.
The range presented by AVL will include parallel hy-
brids, 48V- or high-voltage mild or full hybrids, up to
serial hybrids. In the first configurations, the ICE is the
main propulsion, requiring the whole engine speed and
load range including the transient operation. In serial
hybrid applications, the vehicle is generally electrically
driven; the ICE provides power to drive the generator,
either exclusively or supporting a battery charging con-
Figure 2: Degrees of electrification: from ICE to fuel cell.
cept. When the ICE is not mechanically coupled to the
drivetrain, a reduction of the operating range and thus a
partial simplification of the ICE is achievable. of topology for each application is dependent on the use case. For
The diversity of possible powertrain variants pres- the extreme cases (like a heavy-duty truck or small city car) the
ents a challenge for vehicle OEMs and powertrain or choice is relatively clear; for a mid-sized SUV, located in the middle of
engine manufacturers, implying parallel development this chart, many different configurations could be considered.
of many different technologies as well as increased The present study was based on a D-segment SUV application.
manufacturing complexity. This represents both a technical challenge in terms of the legislative
BOTH IMAGES: AVL
Figure 1 illustrates the large variety of electrification boundaries of emission and fuel-consumption targets, and a key mar-
topologies currently in use, including battery- and fu- ket segment responsible for a large share of fleet fuel consumption.
el-cell electric as well as electrified ICE based pow- As the fleet targets are reduced, the share of vehicles with higher
ertrains in various degrees of hybridization. The choice degrees of electrification must be increased.

Optimizing hybrids COVER STORY
FOR COST AND

EFFICIENCY
Table 1: Power
targets of the
modular ICE
variants with and
without variable
compression-ratio
technology.
Powertrain and ICE power range

A boundary condition for electrified powertrain vari-
ants is the achievement of at least the same vehicle
performance compared to the conventional versions,
but at lower fuel consumption. Typically, the demand-
ed power for this segment is in the range from 140 kW
up to 240 kW for the main vehicle variants, though
specific top-performance versions may be higher. PO 12 kW 48V P2 20 kW 48V P2 20 kW 48V
Belt Starter-Generator Module between ICE and Transmission Direct Hybrid Transmission with
The increasing electrification range (Figure 2) will replacing alternator with parallel-axis e-Motor and parallel-axis E-Motor integrated
include 48V-P0 micro-hybrids, more or less replacing reduction gearbox [8] in Transmission [9]
the 12V systems as the new standard, as well as paral- Figure 3: 48V electrification locations: P0, P2 and Hybrid Transmission.
lel hybrids in 48V-P2 or P4 configurations, high-volt-
age full hybrids both without and increasingly with
plug-in functionality and finally, serial hybrids. 140
VCR: Variable Compression Ratio
The first level of hybrid system (P0 position) uses a [kW/1]
VVL: Variable Valve Lift
48V belt starter-generator (BSG) system, substituting IEM: integrated exhaust manifold
UHPI: ultra high pressure injection
the more powerful alternator for the 12V machine, in 120
the same belt-drive layout. The 48V supply is a pre-

requisite for the e-supercharger, respectively e-turbo-
Maximum specific power
charger, used in the higher-performance engine vari- 100

at stolchlometric AFR
ants, as well as a limited electric driving range. The

electric power is around 12kW.
80
The next level in powertrain electrification is a P2
configuration, remaining at the 48V level and deliver-
ing around 20kW electric power. The arrangement as
60
shown in Figure 3 with the e-machine packaged paral-
lel to the gearbox allows the integration in transverse
installations, usually very sensitive regarding overall [g/kWh]
40
powertrain length. 240 230 220 210 200 190 180 170 160
The configurations with further increased electrical 35% 36% 37% 38% 39% 40% 41% 42% 43% 44% 45% 46% 47% 48% 49% 50%
performance support extended recuperation capabil- Best point specific consumption and Brake Thermal efficiency
ity, torque assist, load-point shifting of the ICE and full
Figure 4: Tradeoff between engine brake thermal efficiency and specific power.
electric drive. Integrating the e-motor into the trans-
mission architecture allows integration of electrical
and mechanical functions in P2 or P2.5 architectures
(Figure 3, right). A modular hybrid transmission family Engine tech packages for high combustion
and performance
ALL IMAGES: AVL
(“Direct Hybrid Transmission”), allowing the integra-

tion of 48V as well as high-voltage e-motors is the Future emission requirements including more highly-loaded emis-
basis for the 400V variants. The power of the electric sions certification cycles can be achieved with an aftertreatment
motor is increased to around 120kW. package consisting of a 3-way catalyst for gaseous emissions and a

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Optimizing hybrids
FOR COST AND
EFFICIENCY
Figure 5: Modular engine
friction-reduction measures.
Cam Carrier
Valve Train Module
Variabilities – DVVT / VVL
Cylinder Head Module

Miller and Performance Variants
Atkinson NA Variant
VCS System
• Compression ratio spread up to 6 units / up to 6500 rpm.
• Fastest and reproducible switching behavior
Figure 7: Modular cylinder head and valve train assembly.
• No additional energy demand for VCS control in fuel economy position (high CR).
Figure 6: Components of AVL’s variable-compression system.

On the other hand, Miller-cycle valve timing with high geometric
compression ratio and extended expansion offers a route to improve
particle filter to control particulates in all operating brake thermal efficiency while limiting the achievable power density.
conditions. Robust compliance with real driving emis- Power density can be maintained by increasing boost pressure to
sions limits demands 3-way catalytic conversion and compensate for the short valve-opening duration.
therefore stoichiometric combustion in the whole en- Variable compression ratio (VCR) is an enabler to maximize the po-
gine map. Figure 4 illustrates the limitations of differ- tential of Millerization for higher- performance variants. The implemen-
ent measures to support this, in terms of fuel con- tation as a 2-step system using a switchable connecting rod design
sumption and achievable power ratings. with hydraulic actuation has been described in detail: https://www.sae.
Measures start with active exhaust gas cooling in org/publications/technical-papers/content/2017-01-0634/. As shown,
the form of an integrated exhaust manifold, already the 2-step VCR with a compression ratio range of 10 at part load to 15
implemented on many turbocharged gasoline engines. at full load gives most of the benefit expected from a continuously
ALL IMAGES: AVL
Water injection can extend the stoichiometric opera- variable system. In combination with variable intake valve lift, VCS
tion up to high power from 120 kW/L to above 170 proves to be very effective both in view of stochiometric range and
kW/L and will be the choice for concepts prioritizing minimum fuel consumption.
power and emissions over fuel consumption. The efficiency targets for next-generation combustion engines will

COVER STORY
be significantly tightened. For the next step towards 50% brake ther- Modular ICE technology packages
mal efficiency, a new generation of technology packages is in develop-
ment, including pre-chamber spark ignition and ultra-high-pressure An ICE engine family with modular components is pro-
injection. The aim is to allow high compression ratio in the whole map posed to avoid developing a dedicated base engine for
while suppressing knock. One approach to achieve that is a reduction each application. As well as a significant cost advantage
of the charge-air temperature close to ambient temperature, by use of due to higher component production volumes, this ap-
a two-stage e-supercharger with dual intercooling. proach gives high flexibility considering uncertain future
A modular charging concept including electrified components such volume distributions. This approach has been proposed
as e-superchargers and e-turbos enables optimized use of electric before and implemented by several OEMs in produc-
energy in the hybrid powertrain. For acceleration utilizing the ther- tion. The concept is now adapted and extended to in-
modynamic amplification (electric energy is utilized to compress air clude variation based on the degree of electrification.
and/or spin up the TC) rather than direct electric power, the battery The basic engine architecture has been laid out from the
can be reduced in size without loss of vehicle performance. outset to minimize mechanical losses of the base engine:
With an electrified powertrain supplementing engine torque at low • long stroke (Stroke/Bore > 1.2)
engine speed, the exhaust-gas turbocharger systems can be re- • crankshaft offset 12~15% of stroke
matched with focus on the high-speed area. This extends the poten- • long conrod (L/r > 3.3)
tial application of each charging technology towards higher specific • minimization of bore distortion by structural
power, leading to a more cost-effective overall package. • optimization and shape honing
Table 1 shows variants in each power class based on current-pro- • valvetrain with low friction (RFF+HLA)
duction TGDI technology base and the potential for efficiency im- • minimized diameter of main bearings
provement with application of the above technologies. By applying • demand-controlled piston cooling jets
the above-mentioned technology elements, the full range of ICE • split cooling (separate cooling circuits for cylinder
power can be covered by an engine family based on a turbocharged head and block)
in-line 4-cylinder with about 2.0L displacement and specific power • chain-driven oil pump, pressure and volume flow is
ratings from 70 to 120kW/L. demand-controlled
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Optimizing hybrids
FOR COST AND
EFFICIENCY
48V Hybrid 400V Hybrid Table 2: Engine
ICE Variant Mid Power High Power Very High Power NA Mid Power
component
ICE Power Density 70-80kW/1 100kW/1 120kW/1 45 - 55kW/1 80kW/1 commonality.
Miller Miller + VVL + VCS Miller + VVL + VCS NA Atkinson Miller
WG-TC VGT TC Electric boosted TC >40% efficiency TC
Bore x Stroke
Dimensions
Common long-stroke layout

Key Dimensions Bore pitch, Block height, skirt depth,
Valve diameters and positions, Cylinder head height, inlet and exhaust flanges
Crankcase Casting
Machining Reduced MB dia
Cylinder Casting TC Port & Chamber, IEM NA Port, IEM TC Port & Chamber, IEM
Head
Machining
Crankshaft Standard Pin width & Oil Supply for VCS Friction reduced
(smaller bearings)
Components
Conrod Standard VCS / Variable Compression System Lightweight Standard
Piston High CR CR Variable High CR, lightweight,

min. friction rings
Valve train module DOHC DVVT 2-step intake VVL DOHC DVVT
Oil pump Mechanical Mechanical + Electric-VCS Mechanical
water pump Mechanical Electric Electric
FEAD Standard Beltless - electric A/C and Vacuum
Crankcase and cranktrain

The crankcase structure must address both mechanical and thermal
loads considering gasoline engines with high power density and hence
high thermal load as well as peak firing pressure requirements of 150
bar (2,176 psi) for future knock-free combustion. Due to the significant
weight advantage, aluminum is proposed with and open deck structure.
For engine variants with variable compression ratio, the conven-
tional connecting rod is replaced by the VCS variable conrod. In this
case, adaptation of the crankshaft (conrod journal width) is required
as well as the addition of the hydraulic control system including elec-
tric booster oil pump and pressure accumulator as shown in Figure 6.
Cylinder head, valvetrain and cooling

A modular architecture with compact base cylinder head and sepa-
rate cam carrier module permits the standardization of the main in-
terfaces such as cylinder head height or camshaft positions. This ap-
Figure 8: The 100 kW/L performance variant of the modular proach, while also saving costs and weight, provides flexibility for the
engine includes variable compression ratio and variable- application of different variability of the valvetrain systems (Figure 7)
geometry turbocharging.
without modifying the cylinder head itself. The base cylinder head
with combustion chamber, gas exchange ports and cooling jacket has
In addition to these concept features, further mea- a cooled, integrated exhaust gas manifold with compact routing.
sures that could be incorporated with minimal chang- Cylinder head cooling for turbocharged engines with higher power
es to the production and assembly lines, even for ex- density requires special attention. A top-down cooling concept de-
isting production facilities, including: veloped specifically for 4-valve cylinder heads features two cooling
• electronically controlled thermostat/coolant tem- jackets in the cylinder head, joined by efficient cooling jets between
perature-management module the exhaust valves of each cylinder.
• second-order mass balancing shafts with roller The base variants of the represented engine family possess switch-
bearings (Figure 5) able water pumps with map-controlled thermostat. A fully variable
BOTH IMAGES: AVL
• friction reducing coatings (piston rings, piston pins) thermo-management module allowing zero flow at low, part-load
• camshaft roller bearings (1st bearing) operation is mandatory for future high efficiency concepts.
• switchable high performance water pump (low- For electrification variants with 48V, an electric water pump be-
friction seal, efficiency-optimized impeller) comes an attractive alternative, providing true on-demand flow and

COVER STORY
significantly reducing power demand for pump actuation. applied at For the 100kW/L engine variant, a variable turbo
all hybrid versions. For the hybrid variants the cooling system com- geometry is the base variant as well. An e-VGT is an
plexity further increases with cooling of the electrical components. option for this rating. The base features and the two
A pressure- and volume- flow-controlled oil pump is considered as considered combinations of additional features are
a baseline technology for all engine variants. Piston cooling jets are shown in Figure 8.
one of the most significant consumers in terms of volume flow rate. Electrical support of the charging system is a manda-
Demand-based control of the cooling significantly reduces oil flow tory feature for a high efficiency powertrain layout at
rate and associated parasitic losses in the low-load range. The inte- these highest ratings, considering transient operation.
grated, controlled piston cooling that controls the oil flow rate to the
jets according to the actual operating point of the engine is therefore
a standard feature of all variants.
48V MHEV beltless engine
The next level in powertrain electrification is a P2-
configuration, remaining at the 48V level but with up
Technology features of performance variants to 20kW electrical power. As the powertrain configu-
Starting with the baseline 48V-P0, three different performance levels ration offers increased electrical performance, replace-
are proposed, with respective 80-, 100- and 120-kWL outputs. The ment of mechanical auxiliary functions by electrical
base variant with 80 kW/L has a 350-bar (5,076-psi) fuel injection solutions becomes possible.
system and variable-geometry turbine (VGT). An external EGR- The simplification of the ICE auxiliary drives as well
system is part of the fuel efficiency and emission package. as the enhanced demand control lead to electrification
The valvetrain for all variants includes continuous variable valve timing of power steering, vacuum pump, coolant pump and
at intake and exhaust. For the 80kW/L variant a 2-step cam switching A/C compressor. A beltless ICE without auxiliary drives
system at the intake is optional in combination with VGT. For the higher would be the logical step for hybrid application.
ratings, 2-step valve lift is required, allowing switching between part- With the electrical performance of the 48V-P2 con-
load Miller cam and full-load cam. figuration the full load curve of the ICE does not need

Optimizing hybrids COVER STORY
FOR COST AND

EFFICIENCY
A B C D E1 E2
48V 400V Figure 9: Relative powertrain costs for
MHEV P0 HEV P2 HEV P2.5 PHEV P2.5 PHEV Serial / REX + Direct Drive
various technology packages.
4-Cylinder TC 4-Cylinder NA 3-Cylinder TC
Wiring & HCU

On-board charger
DC/DC Converter
Battery
Transmission &
e-drive
100%
CO2 measures
EAS Eu7
ICE Baseline
A B C1 D E1 E2
to provide low-end torque. Thus, the characteristics of option. The NA engine shows its best BSFC in a rather narrow area of the
the charging unit can be tailored to operate in the map, whereas a TC-engine achieves a wider sweet spot.
range of highest charger efficiency at rated power.
Efficiency versus cost
The ICE for high-voltage HEV and PHEV The trade-off between add-on cost and CO2 savings on one side and
Combining ICE powertrains with high voltage systems robustness regarding RDE-requirements on the other side is an essential
provides simplification potential on the ICE by limiting its factor for the final selection of the optimum technology packages. In
operation range, reducing the ICE power rating even Figure 9, the cost for different powertrain architectures and technology
more than a 48V system. For example, in combination packages leading to comparable system power levels are visualized.
with an e-motor delivering up to 80kW at 400V, the ICE Starting point for each configuration is an EU7 emission- compliant (i.e.,
power rating can be reduced to 160kW. full map in stoichiometric operation) base engine together with a con-
Since the e-motor delivers high torque at low speed, forming aftertreatment system (again for expected EU7 targets). These
a quite extreme reduction of low-end torque from the two cost blocks together represent the 100% line in the diagram.
ICE up to mid engine speeds allows simplification of Moving from 48V to 400V, the main cost driver is the larger battery
the boosting system to a wastegate TC, removal of the required for plug-in hybrids to increase the electric-driving range.
VVL system, and potentially also VVT system.
Conclusions
The ideal ICE for a serial hybrid or A modular engine family architecture with common machining and
range extender assembly concepts for the main components provides a basis to
The largest step in ICE simplification can be achieved integrate different technology modules for different applications.
with serial-hybrid or range-extender configurations. By adapting charging and valvetrain systems, the full-load curve
As the ICE is not mechanically coupled to the drive- shape and fuel consumption maps can be tailored to best match the
train, a reduction of the operation range to preferred load specific powertrain configuration, from pure ICE through mild- to
and speed ranges with high efficiency is feasible and tran- full-hybrid applications.
sient as well as idle operation is irrelevant. For vehicle This modular technology “component box” is a cost-effective and
operation outside the city mode, direct connection of the flexible way to cope with future fuel-consumption and emission lim-
ICE to the drive train may be advantageous, limited to its, in particular when considering an uncertain distribution of vari-
higher vehicle speeds in highway operation. ants in future vehicle platforms.
Maximum vehicle performance in high-voltage hybrid Balancing overall powertrain complexity with tailored technology
applications, in parallel mode with ICE connected to the modules on the ICE dependent on the degree of electrification allows
drivetrain, is achieved with the combustion engine and significant cost reduction up to 40% for highly electrified variants
e-motor combined. compared to the ICE-only baseline. It at least partially compensates
So far, even with moderate ICE power, the acceleration the cost penalty of the additional electric components.
and performance of hybrid versions is significantly be-
yond the conventional variants. For these applications, This is a condensed version of SAE Technical Paper 2020-01-0839, “A modular
the question is whether a naturally-aspirated Atkinson gasoline engine family for hybrid powertrains: Balancing cost and efficiency.”
AVL
engine, or a smaller turbocharged engine is the better It can be ordered or downloaded from SAE International at www.sae.org

POWERTRAIN SUPPLIER INSIGHTS
ICE: once more, with feeling

BorgWarner CSO sees at least one more generation of the ICE before its ‘sunset.’
by Bill Visnic
F
ollowing its 2020 acquisition of Delphi Technologies,
BorgWarner now has a vast portfolio of internal-combustion
engine (ICE) foundation components, everything from fuel-
and air-handling systems to ignition and boosting and pow-
ertrain controllers. It’s a multinational supplier with massive ICE “expo-
sure.” Yet VP and chief strategy officer Paul Farrell is facing the rush of
“death of ICE” developments with a palpable equanimity.
It’s the calm of an engineer who knows with certainty that little in
automotive changes overnight. Despite the brassy headlines and
15-years-from-now promises, there will be a protracted transition
from ICE to electric vehicle (EV). Better still, Farrell said, is the confi-
dence that BorgWarner’s business is built to navigate the evolution,
regardless of the twists it takes.
The pace of the transition, he admits, will be difficult to project,
but he expects no substantial reactions from the ICE universe will be
required until the latter part of the decade.
“There’s clearly a lot of regulatory pressures that would drive to-
wards much higher levels of electrification in the back end of the de-
cade. I think that that part of it is pretty clear. On a global basis, I
don’t think we expect the ‘death’ of the IC engine at the end of the
decade,” Farrell said in an interview with Automotive Engineering. BorgWarner
vice president and chief
“From that perspective, is there increasing amounts of EVs? Yes, for
strategy officer Paul Farrell.
sure. I guess right now, if we looked at it, we will come to different
answers. Nobody’s crystal ball is perfect, but we might say it’s [EV
production] 20 percent, could be as high as 30 percent. And obvi- Farrell said the diesel engine’s days clearly are com-
ously that varies a lot geographically.” ing to a close and gasoline fueling will carry the ICE
But because of the global-regulatory-market matrix complexity of into the uncertain near to midterm. “You’ll see a shift
it all, OEMs and their suppliers will have to be adaptable in terms of to gas and frankly, that movie’s already played out a
committing to the long-timeline investments typical of ICE propul- lot. There’s probably that one last gen [eration of gas-
sion, he projected. “If we think the demand and the volumes are oline engine design]. As we look towards the middle
there, we’ll continue to make the investments,” Farrell said. “But at of the decade – which from an engineering perspec-
some level, I think the OEMs also have the similar challenge of how to tive really is now – there’s probably one more turn on
apply their resources.” the gasoline engines” optimized with technologies
such as high-pressure GDI, variable-geometry turbo-
chargers, and cooled EGR.
Most of the significant ICE improvements and en-
hancements going forward will come more by “add-ons
on the electrification side,” that underlay the gradual
evolution to full-electric propulsion, Farrell noted. “If
you think about it meeting the challenges, you’ve got
this base engine – and then you’re solving those add-
ed challenges that you’re calling out by hybridization
around it.
BOTH IMAGES: BORGWARNER
“It becomes less about the technology specifically

around the ICE engine and more about how you en-
hance it from an electrification perspective to beat
The eTurbo electrically assisted those next bars of regulations. You could think of hy-
turbocharger is one example of bridization at some level as a transitional technology,
fusing internal combustion with and then you’ve got [more discrete electrification]
elements of electrification. coming in over time.”

Actuating hybrid and

EV efficiency
More sophisticated driveline-disconnect systems are part of the electrified-
vehicle future, says the head of controls at Stoneridge.
by Lindsay Brooke
A
xle-disconnect systems have been a fuel-efficiency enabler
in recent years, delivering improvements of up to 10% in
all-wheel drive and four-wheel-drive cars and light trucks,
depending on vehicle application. Reducing driveline para-
sitics by decoupling one set of drive wheels when they’re not need-
ed, pays overall efficiency benefits regardless of powertrain type.
Electrified vehicles are expected be a significant growth opportunity
for disconnect technologies such as actuators, explained Jim
Zizelman, president of the Control Devices division at Stoneridge.
The Novi, Michigan-based company develops control and sensing
solutions for automotive, commercial and off-highway vehicles.
“Almost one third of our actuation business today is on hybrids
and battery-electric vehicles [BEV],” he told Automotive Engineering. In EV applications
Actuators are typically unsung devices in the driveline space. They there is a focus on
ensure the electro-mechanical “handshake” that swiftly links front- not allowing the
and rear-axle drive modules to the transmission and helps provide traction motor to ‘drag’
front/rear and wheel-to-wheel torque splits, depending on system with the wheels when it
is not in use, explained
configuration. Stoneridge actuators are used in a “broad array” of
Jim Zizelman.
vehicles, said Zizelman, who joined the company in 2020 after more
than 25 years in powertrain and electronics at Delphi and most re-
cently Aptiv, where he was VP engineering.
“We’ve been pushing hard to be ready for the electrification tran-
sition,” he said. “We design our actuators and disconnection tech-
nologies in a platform sense. They’re ‘application agnostic’ for
broad use with minor change, in conventional or electric drivelines.” “Our actuators…are ‘application
The various applications present Stoneridge design engineers with
equivalent forces and loads. “In terms of the fundamentals – achiev-
agnostic’ for broad use, with
ing an easy, smooth, quiet engagement and disconnect – our cus- minor change, in conventional or
tomers have the same requirements in both their conventional and
electric platforms,” Zizelman said.
electrified drivelines.”
More hybrid applications for actuation are emerging as OEMs de-
vise ways to decouple the electric and ICE sections of their drivelines. impact in our actuators. And we can reduce the noise
In EV applications there is a focus on not allowing the traction motor of de-connection using software solutions. The goal is
to ‘drag’ with the wheels when the motor is not in use. “In a two-mo- always to be X-dB lower than the competition,”
tor or even four-motor application, it’s inefficient to turn that motor Zizelman asserted.
over if you’re not using it,” he explained. Stoneridge’s current portfolio includes customiz-
Stoneridge is also involved in several programs involving what able ECUs, electronic shift-by-wire modules, and even
Zizelman calls “innovative driveline technologies,” such new ap- a new onboard camera system, MirrorEye, designed
proaches to vehicle torque transmission. “If a new transmission de- to replace conventional exterior mirrors on trucks.
sign can help reduce the battery pack size and allow use of smaller “Consider what the cameras in ADAS see, perhaps
motors in order to gain ‘electric fuel economy,’ that’s extremely im- some instability due to the road, can be communi-
portant,” he said. He noted the battle for reducing NVH is increas- cated back into the vehicle’s control system,”
STONERIDGE
ingly acute in BEV drivelines, and it has Stoneridge focused on ensur- Zizelman noted. “It would then call on actuators to
ing silky, silent engagement and re-engagement. perhaps connect a drive axle, or adjust the inter-axle
“On the hardware side, for example, we can reduce the mass of torque balance.”

The world’s piston maker

charts the ICE future
According to Mahle’s research VP, the remaining development path for internal
combustion is clean, electrified and ready for alternative fuels.
by Paul Seredynski
E
lectrification nets the current headlines and Wall Street fer-
vor, but the internal combustion engine (ICE) will soldier on
for several decades, serving as the core of many propulsion
systems. Until it is finally regulated out of existence, the ICE
will keep evolving under increasingly stringent emissions regulations.
“We’ll need clean combustion engines in the future – preferably driven
by a certain share of renewable fuels. There won’t be a single powertrain
of the future,” said Martin Berger, Mahle’s VP of corporate research and
advanced engineering. Before taking on his current role, he spent more
than five years as Mahle’s director of engineering services.
Berger explained that market environments, vehicle sizes, use cas-
es and driving profiles are too diverse for there to be only a single
propulsion solution. “We have to have more than just one path, be it
battery electric propulsion, be it fuel cell or be it hydrogen, and alter-
native fuels in the combustion engine,” he told SAE International.
The ICE of 2030, according to Berger, will look like an extension of
today’s program goals: “clean, electrified, and ready for alternative
fuels.” Mahle’s optimized Modular Hybrid Powertrain [MHP] concept
pointed the way a few years ago. It showed “there is still a great po-
tential in the combustion engine” by employing technologies such as
heat-resistant valves that allow high exhaust-gas temperatures, and
special pistons and rings to ensure low oil consumption and low par-
ticulate emissions. For transient-range operation, or in dynamic driv-
ing situations, the ICE is supported with an integrated electric motor, “The technological and structural transformation requirements are
always a great inspiration to Mahle on its way towards mobility of
avoiding the related emissions.
the future – aiming to shape it!” explained Martin Berger.
Synthetic fuel blends, “up to 100% for some applications,” can provide
cleaner combustion for both the current and future fleets, Berger said.
Berger uses the term “intelligent electrification” to characterize the More than 85% of Mahle’s R&D
hybridized combustion engine of the future. Continuous power out-
put “can be achieved using the [ICE] in a few highly efficient operat-
sources are dedicated to alternative
ing points. Cruising range and fast refueling are not an issue at all, drivetrains – including battery-
whilst transient power for dynamic driving situations is generated by
the electric motor,” he said. The result is “a much simpler, smaller,
electric vehicles and fuel cell.
cheaper and yet cleaner engine.”
As the industry shifts large resources toward battery electric ve- Production also is affected by the shift. “We are
hicles (BEVs), Mahle is pivoting its expertise and product offerings. constantly keeping up with all kinds of modern manu-
“We are continuously expanding our portfolio in the field of mecha- facturing approaches,” Berger said, led by digitization
tronics, electronics, battery and thermal management,” Berger de- of plants and processes. 3D printing technologies are
tailed. “We simultaneously keep an eye on efficiency, packaging, and being developed for engines, electric motors and pe-
resources. In R&D/pre-development, more than 85% of our resources ripherals. Mahle has applied this technology to the
are dedicated to alternative drivetrains – including battery electric Porsche GT2 RS pistons [https://www.sae.org/
vehicles and fuel cell.” news/2020/07/porsche-3d-printed-pistons] and its
While Mahle shifts its advanced-engineering resources towards applications “extend way beyond engine components
new mobility approaches, the company will continue to support its to include parts like charge-air coolers and electric
MAHLE
customers in the “traditional” markets “as long as needed,” he stated. motors,” he noted.

Pumping
EV heat
The heat-pump-equipped
Niro EV with the author.
Heat-pump technology is a game-changer for the widespread adoption of

electric vehicles, says a service-tech training expert and EV owner.
by Craig Van Batenburg
T
he Automotive Career Development Center (ACDC) that I to heat antifreeze for the heater core – an “old-school”
founded over 20 years ago provides training and tech sup- solution! Volt uses its ICE for heat in certain conditions,
port to the world’s independent electric-vehicle (EV and hy- but not always.
brid) technicians, who will be asked to fix and maintain the In 2020 when the Bolt’s lease was up, it was time to
systems as they age. Our facility in central Massachusetts includes a look for a new EV for our training work as well as for lon-
variety of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles (BEV) ger-distance driving. The Hyundai Kona EV was on my
that we use for both teaching and research. It has also supported my list but its cousin, the Kia Niro EV, won out. Why? The
own investigations into cabin-heater technology and its annoying Niro features a heat pump, rather than hot glycol, to heat
“your range may vary” impact on BEV use in northern climates. the cabin. Heat pumps are not new in EVs: Nissan offered
This curiosity began when I bought a new 2011 Chevrolet Volt to one in 2013 on upper-trim models of the Leaf, and Kia’s
add to the ACDC fleet. The Volt, a series-type hybrid, has an electric- Soul EV brought a slightly improved heat pump. The Niro
only range of about 35 miles (56 km) in ideal thermal conditions. If I EV takes the technology one step further.
drive back roads at 35 mph (56 km/h), the Volt may deliver 40 miles
(64 km) of pure-electric use before the combustion engine kicks in.
During winter, however, that EV range plummets to less than 20
Coolant vs. heat pump
miles (32 km). When affordable modern electric cars began entering
A couple of years after buying the Volt, a used 2011 Nissan Leaf the global market in 2010, their ability to keep driver
came our way. This early EV, with its 24-kWh air-cooled battery, and passengers comfortable in cold weather – without
could go about 80 miles (129 km) per charge in the summer, but only compromising driving range – became a concern for
make 50 miles (80 km) in winter. Then in 2017, ACDC leased a customers and EV development engineers. To provide
Chevrolet Bolt EV. It offered a big jump in summertime range – 230 their cabin heat, approximately one gallon (3.78 liters)
BOTH IMAGES: ACDC
miles (370 km). But when the mercury dropped so did the Bolt’s of coolant was heated using the high-voltage battery
driving range, to 160 miles (257 km). for power. The hot coolant was then pumped into the
Life with an electrified vehicle in New England was shaping up to heater core. This approach has been around since
be problematic. What did they all have in common? The Leaf and 1893, when the pioneering mechanical engineer
Bolt all generate cabin heat by using their high-voltage battery pack Margaret Wilcox patented a method for warming the

ELECTRIFICATION FEATURE
Schematic of the
Kia Niro’s heat
pump.
passengers by directing air from over the engine to heating and cooling according to set temperatures, and temperature
the vehicle interior. Soon after, engine coolant became control when switching between cooler air and heater. In this way the
the medium. Using waste energy is smart; wasting heat is then produced in the cabin as you try to cool the air outside
energy is not. the vehicle.
Wilcox’s invention was still in use in the 2011 Leaf. Heat-pump technology saw rapid iterations to improve perfor-
Unfortunately, it decreased the EV’s driving range by mance, from Nissan’s first automotive use in the early Leaf, to Kia’s
30% to 40% in cold weather, as the heat was gener- tweaks, and then to Denso’s further improved heat pump used by
ated from the primary energy source on board – the Toyota. These changes came because EV customers wanted more
car’s battery pack. Nissan’s adoption of heat-pump range in cold weather.
technology was a revelation. It reduced the load on
the high-voltage battery from approximately 7 kW to
2 kW, for the same amount of heat generated. This
Inside the heat pump
allowed the improved Leaf to go further on a charge Those readers who aren’t HVAC engineers may find value in examin-
while keeping the occupants comfortable. ing the generic heat pump (see schematic) we use in the ACDC class-
Conceptually, heat pumps have been around since room to help repair technicians understand the concept. The system
the 1850s. They have been used in buildings since the has two heat exchanger/evaporators (11 and 2). One of them, num-
1940s. How do they work? In simple terms, a heat- bered 2 in the schematic, is used for heating the cabin. The condens-
pump system heats the cabin using the temperature er (5) has two jobs as we will explain. The compressor (1) is a typical
delta between a refrigerant and the outside air, creat- high-voltage scroll type and uses an accumulator (9). The accumula-
ing a heating effect while consuming less power than tor (9) prevents any liquid from entering the compressor.
a conventional vehicle heater. Essentially in a heat Two 12-volt solenoid 3-way valves (3 and 6) are fitted before each
pump the condenser and evaporator trade places by expansion valve (4 and 10) with a bypass line to direct the refrigerant
adding another expansion valve before the condenser. either to the expansion valve or around it. The “3-way valves,” as
The HVAC controller, depending on a request for heat they are referred to by the OEMs, have only two directions. The
or air conditioning, calls upon one expansion valve or switching of the valves will allow the refrigerant to keep going
the other. A single refrigerant circuit can be used for straight through the same pipe or be redirected to another pipe. It
both cooling and heating. has only two choices, and only one expansion valve is open at any
A more efficient air-conditioning system is achieved one time. There are also subsystems that are needed to support a
through optimization of the heat exchanger design heat pump in damp and very cold weather, or a subsystem to make it
that implements low power consumption, along with perform better. Expect more improvements in the future.

Pumping ELECTRIFICATION FEATURE
EV heat
Van Batenburg explains electrified-
vehicle technology to an ACDC
class in Europe.
Chiller
ACDC’s industry training
If there was ever a poor choice of descriptors, calling something that After 35 years as an automotive
gets hot a “chiller” would be it (8). This component cools the PE (7; service technician (25 years
power electronics) but its purpose in the HVAC system is to warm the owning his own repair shop),
refrigerant on its way back to the compressor. That makes it easier Craig Van Batenburg bought a
for the compressor to do its job. Less effort equals less energy from Honda Insight in 1999. That same
the high-voltage battery and more range. A lot more range? No, but year he founded ACDC in
every little bit helps. The PE coolant had not been used on the Nissan Worcester, Massachusetts, as a
vehicle-emissions training com-
Leaf before, so now we are recycling energy (a Kia idea) we other- Craig Van Batenburg
pany. In 2004, he closed both
wise would lose as waste heat. Clever, those engineers, applying businesses and transformed
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to transportation. them into HEV training, adding EVs when they arrived.
In the early years, ACDC customers were mainly indepen-
Condenser icing dent repair-shop owners and technicians. That audience now
includes factory techs and engineers from vehicle OEMs and
When the heat pump is on and the climate outside the vehicle is wet suppliers, including Honda R&D, Honda Manufacturing of
and above freezing (33-deg. F to 45-deg. F; 1-deg. C to 7-deg. C), the America, John Deere R&D, Midtronics, Delphi, Autoliv and
exterior of the condenser (5) may freeze as the air moving through it others. Van Batenburg describes his training style as “down-
lowers the air pressure and the temperature drops. If the condenser to-earth, knowledgeable and dynamic.”
During the 2020 COVID lockdown, he and the ACDC staff
has iced up, the heat-pump system stops working. What now? The
compiled a college-level book on electrified-vehicle technol-
HVAC computer will turn the A/C back on; this will now melt the ice ogy, including fuel cell vehicles, that was recently published.
as the condenser gets hot. Air flaps in the evaporator will move the Van Batenburg is most proud of being a dad and helping
cold air from the A/C outside as the high-voltage air grid heater (12) foster kids. To contact ACDC, email: Craig@fixhybrid.com.
is turned on to heat the cabin. Web site: www.FIXEV.com.
At this point the main battery pack (13) will be asked to provide
more energy than when the heat pump was the sole provider of cab-
BOTH IMAGES: ACDC
in heat. As the outside (ambient) temperature drops below freezing cars’ heated seats and heated steering wheel – while
and/or the air dries out, the front condenser will stop icing up. This is wearing a jacket, hat, gloves and heavy socks – to stay
all done without the driver knowing what is going on. warm while optimizing vehicle range. Opting for cabin
To stay warm is a human desire. In the beginning of the modern heat or reaching your destination is not a choice that
electric-vehicle age, many early EV adopters had to resort to their EV drivers should have to make.

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Thermal circuit breaker Brushless DC motor driver

The new thermal circuit breaker series Texas Instruments’ (TI; Dallas, Texas)
from SCHURTER (Santa Rosa, Calif.) fea- DRV3255-Q1 is a highly integrated Grade
tures a modern sculpted rocker switch 0 brushless DC (BLDC) motor driver for
and bezel, while offering several con- 48-V high-power motor control systems,
temporary color choices. SCHURTER’s such as traction inverters and starter
TA36 provides what the company says generators in mild hybrid electric ve-
are seven “trendy” actuator colors and hicles (MHEVs). According to TI, the
three bezel colors, which can be mixed or matched. A selection DRV3255-Q1 is the industry’s first three-phase, 48-V BLDC motor
of five different markings in black, white or embossed comple- driver to integrate high- and low-side active short-circuit logic
ment the offering. The new TA36 family functions as an appli- that eliminates external transistors and control logic. Meeting the
ance switch and thermal overcurrent protection device. The most stringent safety requirements, the motor driver was de-
company series offers one-pole switch with overcurrent protec- signed according to TI’s TÜV SÜD-certified functional safety de-
tion and two-pole switch with one- or two-pole overcurrent velopment process, helping enable up to Automotive Safety
protection. There are 31 different rated currents 0.05 A to 20 A. Integrity Level (ASIL) D. The TI functional safety-compliant
Operating temperature range is -30°C to +60°C (-22°F to DRV3255-Q1 allows manufacturers to design a motor-drive sys-
140°F). Especially suited for 277 VAC LED lighting applications tem to help enable MHEV systems up to ASIL D, supplying as
in the U.S., other applications for the TA36 include industrial much as 30 kW of motor power, which can improve the re-
appliances, HVAC, tools and construction equipment. sponse time of a 48-V motor-drive system in heavy vehicles.

PRODUCT BRIEFS
Test-based engineering Embedded motor controllers

Simcenter Testlab software TDK Corp. (Tokyo, Japan)
from Siemens Digital has expanded its Micronas
Industries Software (Plano, embedded motor control-
Texas) is part of the ler portfolio to address
Simcenter portfolio of simu- higher temperature appli-
lation and test solutions cations. The HVC 4222F
within the Siemens and HVC 4422F were de-
Xcelerator portfolio of inte- veloped for operating
grated software and services. The latest release includes up- smart actuators in applications with ambient temperature
dates to Simcenter Testlab Neo, enhanced model-based sys- requirements up to 150°C (302°F). HVC 4222F offers 32k
tems testing, introduces a new technology for accelerating flash memory while the HVC 4422F comes with 64k flash for
structural dynamics called digital image correlation and front- more complex software implementations. These high tem-
loads analysis of full vehicle noise, vibration and harshness perature devices target applications in combustion vehicle
(NVH) during the design process. Test and simulation engi- drivetrains, and emerging thermal management systems in
neers as well as test campaign managers can benefit from electric and hybrid vehicles. The new high temperature de-
this latest release for multi-disciplinary test-based perfor- vices are part of the automotive-grade, motor controller fam-
mance engineering, specifically designed to offer test and ily for LIN bus connected actuators. The HVC 4xxxF family
simulation teams new capabilities to innovate smart products integrates an Arm standard microprocessor with six indepen-
more productively. In Simcenter Testlab, test engineers have dent 500 mA half-bridge drivers and a wide range of addi-
access to new technologies that can increase productivity tional functions to enable compact and cost-efficient motor-
when collecting and processing data. control applications.
ASAHI Ad 0920_printer.pdf 1 2/25/2021 10:48:08 AM
Meeting your custom mechanical assembly and drive cable needs

INDUSTRIES SERVED
Aerospace | Automotive | Industrial | Medical Device | Robotics
C Let our experienced engineers help design your product:
M • Standard cable sizes • Stainless steel 304/316/302, tungsten, galvanized steel
• Custom stranded cable configurations • Fittings: Sleeves, stops, balls, studs, flanged, looped
• Bare or coated (jacketed) • Torque transmission cables
Y
CM • Custom colors • Push/pull and flexible cable assemblies
MY
CY
CMY
Linear Motion &

Hollow Cables Cables Coatings Assembly Drive Systems
Torque coil Drive cable Outer coating Machining & assembly Synchromesh
wire rope
Torque hypotube Torque rope Inner tube End termination
Cable rack
ACT ONE Wire rope Pre-coating
Wire coil
ISO 13485 • 9001
ASAHI INTECC USA, Inc. | 22 Executive Park, Suite 110 | Irvine, CA 92614 | phone: (949) 756-8252 ext. 302 | www.asahi-inteccusa.com

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AAM - AMERICAN AXLE & MANUFACTURING

One Dauch Drive
Detroit, MI 48211-1198
Phone: 313-758-3900
Email: aam.com/contact
www.aam.com
Company Description
AAM Delivers POWER that moves the world. As a leading
global tier 1 automotive supplier, AAM designs, engineers
and manufactures driveline and metal forming technologies
that are making the next generation of vehicles smarter, nearly 80 facilities in 17 countries to support our customers
lighter, safer and more efficient. Headquartered in Detroit, on global and regional platforms with a focus on quality,
AAM has approximately 20,000 associates operating at operational excellence and technology leadership.
Products/
Services Offered
AAM is a global tier 1 automotive
supplier that designs, engineers
and manufactures products and
technologies for traditional ICE,
hybrid and electric driveline and
engine systems. With extensive
driveline and metal forming ex-
perience and expertise, we pro-
duce everything from small intri-
cate components to large, inte-
grated systems for more than
700 customers around the world.
Our global footprint allows us to
engineer and produce products
and systems everywhere our cus-
tomers are and need us to be.
Learn more at AAM.com.
www.aam.com

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BORGWARNER INC.
3850 Hamlin Road Products/Services Offered
Auburn Hills, MI 48326
Phone: 248-754-9200 Whether in a highly efficient combustion engine, an intel-
borgwarner.com ligent hybrid system or the very latest electric vehicle,
BorgWarner is driving mobility for today and tomorrow. As
a product leader, we are supporting the automotive indus-
Company Description try in realizing clean propulsion and efficient technology
solutions for light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, as
BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) is a global product leader in well as off-highway applications.
clean and efficient technology solutions for combustion, hy- While producing sector-leading technology,
brid and electric vehicles. Building on its original equipment BorgWarner is dedicated to innovating the processes
expertise, BorgWarner also brings market-leading product behind our latest products. Our commitment to sustain-
and service solutions to the global aftermarket. With manu- ability and belief in responsibility spark our drive for
facturing and technical facilities in 96 locations in 24 countries, efficient manufacturing and facilities that strive for con-
the company employs approximately 50,000 worldwide. tinuous improvement. For BorgWarner, it’s about creating
a better, more sustainable world for our people, custom-
ers, communities and planet.
borgwarner.com

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DEWESoft
10730 Logan Street
Whitehouse, OH 43571
Phone: 855-339-3669
Fax: 419-877-5505
E-mail: sales.us@dewesoft.com
www.dewesoft.com
Company Description
DEWESoft offers a full suite of hardware for in-vehicle &
lab applications. Scalable from 1-1000’s of channels our
instruments are small USB & EtherCat devices, stand-alone Products/Services Offered
battery-powered systems, rack-mounted configurations, &
ruggedized field-ready solutions. Powered by DEWESoft X DEWESoft’s KRYPTON data acquisition systems are rug-
software, we acquire & control many multi-domain test ged and distributed EtherCAT data acquisition systems for
sets that include analog in/out, digital in/out, video, CAN, field measurement in extreme and harsh environments.
FlexRay, XCP, GPS, & more. KRYPTON DAQ systems offer IP67 degree of protec-
At DEWESoft, we pride ourselves in our reliability and tion and can operate in the extreme temperature range
service to our customers. Our staff is comprised of physi- from -40 to +85°C and offer high shock protection.
cists, engineers, technicians and other professionals who
have lived and understand your challenges, timelines, and
the importance of customer relationships and feedback
crucial to project success. If you have not already, we chal-
lenge you to put our brand to the test. Trust the Best.
DEWESoft.
www.dewesoft.com

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dSPACE INC.
50131 Pontiac Trail
Wixom, MI 48393-2020
Phone: 248-295-4700
Fax: 248-295-2950
Email: info@dspaceinc.com
www.dspaceinc.com
Company Description
About dSPACE
Simulation is the key to the efficient development and reli- Products/Services Offered
able validation of complex systems. dSPACE offers its cus-
tomers solutions and know-how that help advance innova- Solutions for Safe Autonomous Driving
tions with software- and hardware-based simulations. As a Data is crucial for the development of autonomous ve-
market and innovation leader, we consistently support the hicles. To ensure that the right data is available in the right
dynamic transformation of the automotive industry with quality and quantity, dSPACE offers a comprehensive, scal-
solutions for autonomous driving, electromobility, and dig- able range of solutions: from data logging to data annota-
itization. Particularly, automotive manufacturers and their tion, from measurement-data-based scenario generation
suppliers use this comprehensive, end-to-end solution to sensor simulation and scenario-based testing in the
range to test the software and hardware components of cloud. Our product portfolio also includes AI-based pos-
their new vehicles long before a new model is allowed on sibilities such as automated data analysis, data annotation,
the road. dSPACE is not only a sought-after development and the extraction of simulation scenarios. As a result,
partner in vehicle development. Engineers also rely on our dSPACE supports data-driven development with a com-
dSPACE knowledge and experience in aerospace and in- prehensive, seamless tool chain.
dustrial automation. For decades, dSPACE solutions have
accelerated the development of innovative vehicle technol-
ogy and made its validation more reliable. Our portfolio
ranges from continuous tool chains to engineering and
consulting services as well as training and support.
Getting Electromobility on the Road

In the area of e-mobility, we want to accelerate the intro-
duction of electric vehicles. To do this, we give our cus-
tomers a cutting-edge, scalable chain of solutions for the
development and test of electric motors, energy storage
systems, and charging infrastructure. This tool chain is
suitable for the complete charging communication and lets
our customers test energy feedback. We offer internation-
ally industry-proven tools from a single source.
www.dspaceinc.com

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THE LEE COMPANY

2 Pettipaug Road, P.O. Box 424
Westbrook, CT 06498
Phone: 860-399-6281
Fax: 860-399-2270
E-mail: inquiry@theleeco.com
www.leeimh.com
Company Description
Leighton Lee II was an innovator. He founded our company
on that spirit, and it’s how we solve tough problems today.
Every product we make was developed to solve a custom- quality requirements typical of the automotive industry.
er’s fluid control challenge. Since 1948, we’ve been deliver- There’s no substitute for experience, and for a supplier
ing engineered solutions for a wide variety of demanding that controls every step of product development, produc-
applications. We have the experience, product breadth, tion, and customer service. That’s the unique collective
and technical know-how to provide engineered perfor- advantage of working with The Lee Company.
mance, with zero risk.
Products/Services Offered
The Lee Company manufactures a wide range of minia-
ture fluid control components, including miniature check
valves, pressure relief valves, shuttle valves, calibrated
flow orifices, safety screens, flow controls, and Betaplug®
expansion plugs. Our products are rugged, reliable, and
engineered to provide the highest levels of quality and
performance. We also design with manufacturing pro-
cesses in mind — ours and yours — to ensure that we
help keep you on schedule while meeting the cost and
www.leeimh.com/innovate

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UMICORE AUTOCAT USA INC.

2347 Commercial Drive
Auburn Hills, MI 48326
Phone: 248-340-1040
Fax: 248-340-2471
Email: automotivecatalysts@am.umicore.com
www.ac.umicore.com
Company Description
Umicore is a global leader in advanced emission control
technology and offers solutions for: gasoline vehicles,
light- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles, hybrid and electric
vehicles, fuel cells, motorcycles, small engines, and station-
ary. With an extensive technology portfolio, Umicore’s en-
gineers help manufacturers as they develop and test light-
er weight vehicles, new GDI and diesel engines, new drive-
trains and other approaches.
The Auburn Hills, Michigan, Technical Center features a
state-of-the-art analytical room equipped with six analyti-
cal benches for HC, CO and NOx measurement and two
FTIRs for other gas measurement (NH3, N2O) plus equip-
ment to measure particle mass and particle number. In Products/Services Offered
addition, dual-roll, 48-in. dynamometers can test 4x4s,
all-wheel-drive (AWD) vehicles and hybrids per the U.S. Umicore Technology Highlights
Federal drive cycles as well as for Europe and Japan.
Catalysts for all diesel applications:
• Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
• SCR on Diesel Particulate Filters (SDPF)
• Catalyzed Diesel Particulate Filters (cDPF)
• Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOC)
• NOx Storage Catalysts (NSC)
• Passive NOx Adsorbers (PNA)
• HC-based NOx Control (HC-DeNOx)
• Ammonia Slip Catalysts (ASC)
• Corrugated SCR Catalysts
For gasoline and hybrid vehicles:

• Three-way catalysts (TWC)
• Catalyzed Gasoline Particulate Filters (cGPF)
• Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) Lean NOx
• HC Adsorbers
For hybrid and electric vehicles:

• Rechargeable battery materials
For fuel cells:

• Catalysts
• Anode/cathode materials
www.ac.umicore.com

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ASAHI INTECC USA, INC.

22 Executive Park, Suite 110
Irvine, CA 92614
Phone: 760-473-4265
E-mail: davidz@asahi-intecc-us.com
asahi-inteccusa.com
Company Description
Asahi Intecc manufactures miniature stainless, nitinol,
galvanized, and tungsten cables of any construction 4mm Stranded Wire rope, Cable assemblies, Cable tubes,
to about 0.1mm. We draw round wire and shaped or flat- Torque Coils, Linear Motion and Drive Cable assemblies,
tened wire available. Extruded, dipped, and sprayed extruded tubing, braided
Nylon, PTFE, Fluoropolymer, PE available, along with tubing, and termination
crimped, swaged, soldered, brazed eyelets, balls, termi- assembly. Stainless Steel
nals. ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and ISO 14001 certified. 304/316/302, Tungsten,
Applications include robotics, automotive, bicycle, aero- and other alloys. We have
space controls, machinery, windows and doors sliding many fittings that include
and torque transmission, sporting goods and consumer sleeves, stops, balls, and
products. Drive cables or flexible shafts from 0.2mm to looped terminations.
¼" for high-speed rotation. Synchromesh cable + gear
for space saving and noise control.
https://components.asahi-intecc.com/us/home
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Coilcraft offers a broad selection of products engineered
to withstand extreme heat and cold. These include RF chip
COILCRAFT, INC. inductors, surface mount and leaded power inductors,
1102 Silver Lake Road coupled power inductors, current transformers, Flyback
Cary, IL 60013 transformers, planar transformers, ultrasonic sensing trans-
Phone: 847-639-6400 formers, Class-D inductors, RFID transponder coils, broad-
Fax: 847-639-1469 band chokes and EMI filters. Most of these parts have am-
E-mail: sales@coilcraft.com bient temperature ratings of +140°C, +125°C or +85°C and
www.coilcraft.com meet the stringent quality standards of AEC-Q200, making
them suitable for use in harsh automotive environments.
Company Description
Coilcraft offers a wide range of off-the-shelf products and
custom engineered solutions to meet the automotive indus-
try’s need for high-reliability, high-volume magnetics.
We are one of the world’s largest manufacturers of coils
and transformers for RF, power, EMI and sensing applications.
Our global technical support and engineering centers help
you select the best solution from our extensive catalog of
standard parts or work with you to develop, prototype and
qualify a custom design.
Redundant manufacturing capabilities around the globe,
along with our well-tuned logistics capabilities, assure you
of a steady parts supply and quick response to changing
market demands. www.coilcraft.com/AEC

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IZA sells no products or services but supports zinc markets
through research and development and technology trans-
INTERNATIONAL ZINC ASSOCIATION fer programs. To this end, IZA offers free consultations on
2530 Meridian Parkway, Suite 115 technical specifications, application, performance, and cost
Durham, NC 27713 advantages of most zinc applications.
Phone: 919-361-4647 These consultations, often in the form of webinars, are
E-mail: contact@zinc.org offered at NO-COST to interested parties and can be cus-
www.zinc.org tomized to focus on the needs of your specific application(s).
To schedule your free webinar, contact us at the coordinates
Company Description provided above.
The IZA is a non-profit organization representing the glob-

al zinc industry to sustainably grow markets and maintain
the industry’s market access through effectively managed
initiatives in research & development, technology transfer,
and communication of the value of zinc.
IZA undertakes pre-competitive and collaborative ac-
tivities in partnership with zinc producers and end-users
of zinc products. These include research and develop-
ment activities through programs like the Galvanized
Autobody Partnership. Market development activities
such as the Zinc Die Casting Marketing Initiative. As well
as technology transfer and technical support across the
full range of zinc applications.
www.zinc.org
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MOCAP offers a distinct selection of standard products,
perfect for automotive parts manufacturers, suppliers and
MOCAP distributors. Many of our caps and plugs have been de-
409 Parkway Drive signed and used exclusively for automotive parts manufac-
Park Hills , MO 63601 turing for use with the body assembly, powertrain, fuel
Phone: 800-633-6775 system and steering/suspension. Applications include ship-
Fax: 314-543-4111 ping & storage protection and masking. Our high-quality
E-mail: sales@mocap.com products have been used to protect tube ends, threads,
www.mocap.com and other valuable components including fuel lines, elec-
trical connectors, condensers and cabin access panels. In
Company Description addition, our caps, plugs and other masking products can
withstand all types
MOCAP is the Industry of finishing sys-
Leader in the manufactur- tems. This includes
ing of quality Dip Molded, painting, e-coating
Injection Molded and and powder-coat-
Extruded Plastic & Rubber ing, that are often
products for virtually ev- used for vehicular
ery market. We offer ex- components.
tensive lines of Caps,
Plugs, Grips, Tubing &
Tapes commonly used as
Components, Masking &
Protection for Pumps, Valves, Fittings, Threads, Tubes,
Pipes & Filters. www.mocap.com

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Synopsys delivers the most comprehensive automotive
virtual development solution. As developers seek to deliver
SYNOPSYS new electrification, autonomy and mobility solutions via
690 E. Middlefield Road software running on powerful integrated hardware plat-
Mountain View, CA 94043 forms, Synopsys virtual development tools improve time to
Phone: 650-584-5000 market and productivity resulting in better products faster.
E-mail: sls_info@synopsys.com • Silver – Host based Virtual ECU for application software
www.synopsys.com/autovdk development delivers feedback within minutes
• Virtualizer/VDK – Decouple software development
Company Description from hardware availability with Virtual hardware ECU
• SaberRD – Robust design for power electronic and me-
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is the Silicon to Software™ chatronic systems
partner for innovative companies developing the elec-
tronic products and software applications we rely on ev-
ery day. As an S&P 500 company, Synopsys has a long
history of being a global leader in electronic design auto-
mation (EDA) and semiconductor IP and offers the indus-
try’s broadest portfolio of application security testing
tools and services. Whether you’re a system-on-chip
(SoC) designer creating advanced semiconductors, or a
software developer writing more secure, high-quality
code, Synopsys has the solutions needed to deliver inno-
vative products.
www.synopsys.com/autovdk
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Our expertise and product portfolio ranges from delivering
high voltage for ignition to controlling motors and sensing
WELLS ENGINEERED PRODUCTS every kind of operating condition or parameter.
385 W. Rolling Meadows Drive Whether you need to measure oil pressure, track crank-
Fond du Lac, WI 54936 shaft rotation, quantify airflow or monitor any other aspect
Phone: 920-922-5900 of engine operation, we have a solution to suit your par-
E-mail: info@wellsengineeredproducts.com ticular needs. We don’t just make engines run cleanly, ef-
www.wellsengineeredproducts.com ficiently and reliably, we make them run — period!
Because our product portfolio is so large and diverse,
Company Description we’ve broken it into the following seven solutions categories:
At Wells Engineered Products, we are passionate about • Rotary Position

providing custom precision engine management and pow- Sensors
er control products for manufacturers of premium vehicles, • Ignition Coils
power generation and industrial equipment throughout • Voltage
North America. Regulators
We serve the businesses that build engines. Automotive • Sensors
manufacturers and their Tier 1 suppliers are major markets, • Pressure
but you’ll find our products in many smaller sectors, too. Switches
Powersports, motorcycles, marine, heavy-duty, commercial • Power
and industrial applications all utilize the electronic devices, Electronics
assemblies and products we design and manufacture. • …and Custom
Count on us to design, develop, test, validate, build and Applications
deliver proven electronics that meet your needs and those
of complex and modern vehicles.
www.wellsengineeredproducts.com

UPCOMING WEBINARS
COMPONENT AUTHENTICITY AND TRACEABILITY:
HOW TO PREVENT COUNTERFEITS AND GRAY
MARKET DIVERSION
Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 11:00 am U.S. EDT
The problem of counterfeit components is a threat unlikely to disappear anytime soon, presenting a risk
for both manufacturers and end users. This 30-minute Webinar examines strategies and tactics to mitigate
these risks and remove potentially dangerous and substandard counterfeits from your supply chain and
the marketplace. This Webinar also discusses how counterfeiting and gray market diversion pose risks to
component and end-product performance.
Sponsored by: Hosted by:
For additional details and to register visit: www.sae.org/webcasts
MACHINE LEARNING AND ARTIFICIAL

INTELLIGENCE FOR ENGINEERING SIMULATION
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 2:00 pm U.S. EDT
Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are hot topics in the engineering simulation community.
AI-assisted simulations can also be used for many other purposes such as manufacturing process control,
predictive maintenance, tolerance analysis, and computational risk analysis. However, using ML and AI
for simulation poses several major challenges. This 60-minute Webinar discusses the methods needed to
address the challenges involved with building ML and AI models for engineering simulations.
HOW CRITICAL ARE LOCALIZATION AND

PERCEPTION TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENHANCED
AUTONOMOUS DRIVING?
Friday, April 23, 2021 at 2:00 pm U.S. EDT
Today, autonomous driving solutions leverage diverse sensors, along with high-definition maps, to plan
and maneuver their path. In an extremely competitive market, automakers are racing to deliver the next
levels of autonomy driven by a mixed set of needs based on product differentiation, an evolving consumer
landscape, mandates on enhanced road safety, and efficient energy consumption. This 60-minute Webinar
is focused on solving the complex challenges associated with enabling these features.

UPCOMING WEBINARS
TOTAL APPEARANCE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
FOR AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 2:00 pm U.S. EDT
Traditional tools for appearance measurement used in automotive applications have put the focus on surface
waviness. Using image projection and analysis to mimic human visual perception, a Total Appearance
Measurement System (TAMS) provides readings of the relationship between wave measurements, allowing
an instant understanding of the balance in the appearance between different surfaces. This 30-minute
Webinar examines the Rhopoint TAMS non-contact appearance measurement system, how it works, what its
benefits are, and where it can be used.
AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING: MATERIAL SOLUTIONS

TO ADDRESS TRENDS/EMERGING NEEDS FOR
NEXT-GEN VEHICLES
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 9:00 am U.S. EDT
A number of trends and emerging needs are shaping developments in automotive lighting. Among them:
more intricate lighting designs, thinner and smaller parts, LiDAR and radar systems integration, and
sustainability. This 30-minute Webinar touches on the challenges that these trends and needs give rise to
and the potential of thermoplastics to help address them. It also explores how polycarbonate materials can
help the industry respond to and realize the full potential of light source technologies such as LED and laser.
CONFIDENT TCU CONNECTIVITY

THROUGH EFFICIENT FUNCTIONAL TESTING
Available On Demand
Consumer demand for enhanced vehicle features continues to increase as technology evolves. The testing
of Telematics Control Units (TCUs) is critical to ensuring the performance of automotive cellular connectivity
under differing scenarios as well as bringing quality products/services to market that meet customer
expectations. This 60-minute Webinar examines how to efficiently conduct the most common functional tests
for an automotive TCU, using an MT8000A 5G and/or an MD8475B 2G/3G/4G cellular network simulator.

Q&A
Advancing the OP engine on three fronts
Achates Power’s 2-stroke, opposed-piston, compression-ignition, multi-fuel
engine marches toward multiple applications – and series production in 2024.
Larry Fromm explains.
Global demand for cleaner, more power-dense internal com- of the engine and cooling system in half. The engine enables
bustion engines (ICE) is expected to continue into the mid- faster, more fuel-efficient vehicles with longer range. It helps
dle of this century, for a variety of vehicle applications and their ability to engage and evade the enemy.
markets. San Diego-based Achates Power has been develop-
ing its solution – an advanced 2-stroke, opposed-piston, Would Cummins be the manufacturer?
multi-fuel, compression-ignition engine – since 2004, the That’s up to the Army to decide. Our business model is not to
year computer engineer Larry Fromm manufacture engines. It’s to work with
joined the start-up to lead business established engine companies and li-
development. Automotive Engineering cense our technology to them. That’s
recently caught up with him to learn exactly what we’re doing with the ACE
about Achates’ progress in moving its project with Cummins.
innovative OP power unit toward series Achates is doing design and develop-
production in 2024. Highlights of our ment for the family of smaller-displace-
interview are below. ment engines for tactical vehicles, rated
from 300 hp to 500 hp [223 to 373 kW],
Achates is busy on multiple fronts, ourselves. We expect Cummins or an-
correct? other engine OEM will come aboard on
Yes. We’re focused on three major proj- that one.
ects, with OP engines ranging from 270
hp [200 kW], aimed at pickup trucks, to Achates also has a program with CARB.
over 1,000 hp [746 kW] for military ve- That’s right, it’s largely funded by
hicle applications. Currently our big California’s Air Resources Board. This is
project, the Advanced Combat Engine the Heavy-Duty Diesel and it’s the next
(ACE), is with the U.S. Army and one most likely to go into production.
Cummins Engine. We’ve been working We’re partnering with Aramco on this
on it for several years and now have project. It’s a 10.6-L, 400-hp [298-kW]
engines under test at Cummins, and Larry Fromm: Achates is leveraging OP and diesel designed to replace a 13-L truck
with the Army’s Ground Vehicle hybrid synergies. engine. In August 2020, the state en-
Systems Center (GVSC) in Warren, acted legislation requiring truck en-
Michigan, as well as here at Achates.
This engine is proof of the capability of
We’ve met the gines to reduce their NOx by 90 per-
cent. That’s a huge leap, and difficult to
Achates’ technology.
A 1,000-hp variant of the ACE is in-
90 percent [NOx achieve. The Engine Manufacturers’
Association stated that it would cause
stalled in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and reduction] target the cost of a diesel truck to increase by
has undergone dyno testing. Driving
tests begin in 2021 and the engine in using an off-the- $58,000.
But we’ve met the 90 percent target
this power rating is planned for series
production in 2024. The Army is also shelf aftertreatment using an off-the-shelf aftertreatment
system. We started out with a close-
planning 750-hp [559-kW] and 1,500-
hp [1,120-kW] variants.
system. coupled SCR [urea injection] and kept
working on combustion-side improve-
And we have a new contract to work ments to the point where we didn’t
ALL IMAGES: ACHATES POWER
on a family of smaller engines for the need that type of SCR.

Army’s tactical vehicles and cargo The second ARB project goal is lower
trucks. The Army is really focused on CO2, to meet the EPA’s Greenhouse
getting the engine into vehicles because Gas-II regulation for trucks. That one
the Achates opposed-piston engine requires steady reduction of CO2 by
doubles the power density compared 2027. Well, we’re already 4% below the
with existing diesels. We cut the volume 2027 standard.

Q&A
Development of Achates’ 10.6-L heavy-duty diesel, shown here in a

Peterbilt tractor, was funded by California’s ARB.
What’s the status of the OP engine for pickups?

That’s our third big project: the 2.7-L, 3-cylinder opposed-pis-
ton truck engine that’s funded by the Department of Energy’s
ARPA-E [https://www.sae.org/publications/magazines/
content/17autp02/).We finished the first stage of that project,
running gasoline compression-ignition. It’s installed in a Ford
F-150. At the moment it’s about 10 percent more efficient, on a
Achates achieves low-NOx engine-out emissions through precise control
drive-cycle basis, than Ford’s most efficient engine in the F-150.
of cylinder scavenging.
Gasoline is hard to combust at low temperatures, but the
OP engine can run compression-ignition with gasoline with-
out any additional heat source. We can control the degree of Previously we talked about the potential for hybridizing the
cylinder scavenging; at low loads we keep most of the ex- Achates engine.
haust gas in cylinder. This has a double benefit: it keeps the Yes – it’s a great technology for both military and commercial
trapped gas hot for stable combustion, with inherent NOx applications. We have a project funded by ARPA-E, for a hybrid
mitigation because we have internal EGR. So, the OP is the opposed-piston engine. We’re working with the University of
perfect architecture for low-reactivity fuels as we look to co- Michigan on that project; they’re doing development and testing
optimize engine and fuel with Aramco. of one of our engines now. Anna Stefanopoulou [professor of
We received a follow-on grant in late mechanical engineering, William Clay
2019 to continue the program. So, we
brought in Ricardo as the prime subcon-
OP is the perfect Ford Professor of Technology, and SAE
Fellow] is the project’s ‘guru’. Much of the
tractor. That follow-up program has two
goals. The first goal is to further improve
architecture for work they’re doing, on controls, is headed
by Heath Hofmann [professor, electrical
the efficiency. We think we can get to a low-reactivity fuels engineering and computer science].
as we look to co-
20 percent advantage over any other
production gasoline engine used in light What’s your compressor strategy and
trucks. The second goal is to significant-
ly reduce the weight and cost of the optimize engine and hardware?
Up until the middle of 2020, all the pro-
engine. The prototype engine is fairly
heavy. In this next phase we’re going to
fuel with Aramco. totype engines used a turbocharger,
mostly off the shelf, and a supercharger
reduce weight significantly, to where it’s primarily from Eaton, to do our boost-
competitive with a light-truck diesel. ing work. We’re a 2-stroke engine so we
Our aim for the second-generation 2.5-L have no pumping loop in the combus-
is to deliver diesel-engine efficiency tion cycle. Our direction now is toward
with gasoline fuel. Ricardo is a perfect electrification – some type of e-turbo
partner; they’re world-class in engine along with an EGR pump. Our new en-
design and expert at optimizing mass in gines under test are employing some of
every component. those capabilities.

COMPANIES MENTIONED
Company Page
ABB........................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Kia .......................................................................................................................................................................... 30
ABB Robotics Automotive OEM.......................................................................................................................... 11 Mahle...................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Aptiv....................................................................................................................................................................... 28 Midtronics...............................................................................................................................................................32
Autoliv.....................................................................................................................................................................32 NAWA America...................................................................................................................................................... 14
BorgWarner............................................................................................................................................................27 NAWA Technologies............................................................................................................................................. 12
Cadillac.................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Nissan..................................................................................................................................................................... 30
Center for Automotive Research..........................................................................................................................8 OnScale...................................................................................................................................................................33
Chevrolet..........................................................................................................................................................15, 30 Porsche.................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Constellium North America...................................................................................................................................8 Qmerit..................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Delphi..................................................................................................................................................................... 28 SCHURTER..............................................................................................................................................................33
Delphi Technologies.............................................................................................................................................27 Siemens Digital Industries Software................................................................................................................. 34
Denso...................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Stoneridge............................................................................................................................................................. 28
General Motors...................................................................................................................................................... 15 TDK Corp................................................................................................................................................................ 34
Honda......................................................................................................................................................................32 Texas Instruments.................................................................................................................................................33
Hyundai.................................................................................................................................................................. 30 Toyota...................................................................................................................................................................... 31
John Deere.............................................................................................................................................................32 VI-grade..................................................................................................................................................................33
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LEE MINIATURE CHECK VALVES | RELIEF VALVES | SHUTTLE VALVES | FLOW CONTROLS | PRECISION ORIFICES | EXPANSION PLUGS

SOME COMPANIES IMITATE.

Learn more at leeimh.com/innovate

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