26. April 2018

FEV to Present Solutions for Clean and Efficient Mobility at the 39th Vienna Motor Symposium

The power-shifting dual-speed transmission ensures efficient engine operation.

Aachen, April 26, 2018 – Experts, scientists and decision-makers from the international automobile industry will soon gather for the two-day Vienna Motor Symposium, held at the Hofburg - Imperial Palace in Vienna, Austria. FEV will be there once again to show its innovative solutions for the future. Its newest products are already reducing CO2, NOx and particulate matter emissions in combustion engines considerably, thus making an essential contribution towards reaching future emissions targets. The company has also focused on optimizing electrified drives in terms of performance and range in order to align them with the individual driver’s needs and preferences. Moreover, FEV will be introducing in-house developments for automated driving, which will be demonstrated at the booth and in a test vehicle.

“We would like to invite interested visitors to the FEV Group booth to learn what the future of the powertrain and mobility will look like,” explains Professor Stefan Pischinger, President and CEO of the FEV Group. “We will be discussing technologies that consistently reduce pollutant emissions, while also optimally leveraging the performance potential of the powertrain units within the installation space available.” A test vehicle with “water injection” technology will be on site to show solutions for air-fuel ratios (Lambda = 1) are not only making progress on paper, but are also being deployed in the field. 

Improving efficiency through better “Lambda = 1” technologies
At the Symposium, FEV will unveil a “tangible” future technology with its water injection system, which ranks highly amongst the air-fuel ratio or “Lambda = 1” technologies for gasoline engines. An Audi TTS test vehicle will offer visitors the opportunity to see for themselves how this technology considerably improves vehicle performance.in a practical application. The Audi test vehicle provides an 18 percent increase over the torque in standard Audi models and a 10 percent increase in maximum performance. At the same time, with the water injection system, CO emissions are dramatically reduced in real operation due to the “Lambda = 1” range expanded by over 20 kW/l.

At the FEV booth, a technology demo platform equipped with “Lambda = 1” technology will demonstrate not only the water injection system, but also other systems that combine fun driving with environmental awareness. In addition to an integrated exhaust manifold, FEV’s “mixed sequential boosting system” combines outstanding response behavior and high specific performance with rapid catalytic converter heat-up behavior in a cold start, thus keeping emissions as low as possible. The efficient design of the Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) connecting rods makes it possible to use this system in compact powertrains of the future without having to significantly modify the basic engine.

The VCR technology developed by FEV in gasoline, as well as diesel engines, meets the challenges of future emissions legislation through the expanded operating ranges facilitated by the ability to optimally adjust the compression ratio at any time. This approach considerably reduces the CO2 emissions and significantly mitigates pollutant emissions in real operation. To reach a cost-efficient VCR volume-production solution, FEV is currently working together with the well-known automobile supplier, Hilite International.

Particle filter form factor
The particulate filter has been used in diesel engines, and, in the meantime, also gasoline engines for many years, proving to be a reliable component for reducing emissions. Moreover, FEV has conducted further development work to enhance this diesel and gasoline particulate filter, and will present the final product at the Vienna Motor Symposium. What makes this filter stand out is that its outer shape can be openly defined by meeting the specific requirements in the engine compartment. The variable shape allows it to be installed closer to the engine, a tactic that supports filter regeneration and reduces pollutant emissions. Another noteworthy feature of the filter is its large inlet port which makes it more effective, and an exhaust that can vary in form with respect to the inlet. All in all, these features have resulted in lower pressure losses and ash sensitivity. This is achieved by filtering the SMF material through a sintered powder coating.

Electric Drives for Various Applications
As the range for both fully electric and hybrid vehicles improves, the demand for greater driving performance in these vehicles is growing. For this reason, FEV has developed a transmission product family, including a power-shifting dual-speed transmission, which features a planetary gear transmission designed similar to a Ravigneaux gear set, and an electric torque that can be adjusted up to 600 Nm to meet the driver’s specific needs. The dual-speed system ensures efficient engine operation that can handle a greater range, particularly when driving more frequently above 100 km/h. Also, the demand for cost-efficient development and a rapid market launch is being met by developers using transmission part systems that are already available on the market.

Power storage gives batteries in the automotive industry a new lease on life
With the increase in e-mobility, the emergence of used batteries from electric cars is growing. Already at a residual capacity of 80 percent, they are no longer suitable for their original intended purpose, which, in view of the high energy and raw material costs in their production, makes them ecologically highly inefficient. In order to change this situation, the FEV subsidiary EVA has given such energy carriers a new and sensible lease on life, which visitors can see for themselves at the Symposium.. EVA overhauls used batteries so that they can be used as stationary energy storage devices for renewable energies. At the same time, they meet highly complex requirements and can be used for frequency stabilization in both private photovoltaic installations, as well as large commercial applications, due to their variable size.

Automated Driving with AI Support
An essential challenge in the context of automated driving is the enormous variety of traffic situations that have to be taken into account under all conceivable conditions – for example, changing weather and lighting conditions. To address this, FEV has developed control functions that combine classic, rule-based control functions with artificial intelligence (AI) support using  trained neural networks functions, such as pedestrian detection and the analysis of traffic situations. At the Vienna Motor Symposium, visitors will be able to experience these systems up close and personal in a FEV test vehicle located outdoors. FEV will also be presenting a camera-based object detection system at its booth.

FEV’s booth will be located on the 1st floor of the Vienna Hofburg.