FEV exhibits best practices and development tools at the Aachen Colloquium 2015

The new Jaguar AJ20D4, to which FEV made a major development contribution, is used in the new Jaguar XE (Source: FEV GmbH).

FEV demonstration vehicle at the Aachen Colloquium 2015: apart from an e-drive, the so-called FEV-Breeze features a hydrogen fuel cell, thus achieving a long range with a low emission of harmful substances (Source: FEV GmbH).

Innovative technologies, expert lectures on interesting topics and the latest research results: the Aachen Colloquium on Automobile and Engine Technology (ACK) addresses all of these – this year, for the 24^th time. The ACK will be held on the 6^th and 7^th of October. FEV will present the results from various drive system developments as well as advanced solutions for exhaust gas aftertreatment and emission measurement. In addition, expert tools that help to save time and costs while increasing the quality of development work will be shown.
"Efficiency lies at the core of our services. Our solutions must not only prove to be efficient in their applications, but the development process itself is becoming more complex and will need to be continuously optimized due to growing demands, shorter innovation cycles and an increasing number of interfaces, "said Professor Stefan Pischinger, President and CEO of FEV Group. "Our software and hardware developments are important tools for this."

Development of different powertrain concepts
One focus of FEV’s exhibit at this year's ACK is drive concepts that FEV has developed in different customer and R&D projects: The highlight of the FEV booth is the world's first Lamborghini with plug-in hybrid technology, which was developed as a collaboration between the Italian manufacturer and FEV. The development of this new vehicle concept will be presented in a joint lecture. With this exhibit the engineering service provider, among other things, shows its expertise in battery development. “In more than ten years of development work on e-drives and hybrid solutions as well as through our own e-vehicle fleet, we have developed in-depth know-how,” explains Dr. Thomas Hülshorst, Vice President Electronics and Electrification at FEV. “Our portfolio encompasses battery development from the concept to mass production, our own battery management system and complete alternative powertrains.”

Together with Jaguar Land Rover, FEV will give a technical presentation on the all-new AJ20D4 diesel engine, which is used in the new Jaguar XE. This engine is characterized by its modular structure and high power yield with low fuel consumption. During the development of this engine, FEV was responsible for the design and CAE engineering tasks. FEV was also instrumental in optimizing the combustion process and friction. The engine will be exhibited at Jaguar Land Rover’s ACK booth.

Aside from the optimization of conventional drives and the development of electrical drives, alternative fuels represent an important means of reducing CO₂ emissions. In Aachen, FEV is exhibiting natural gas technologies for passenger cars and large engines as well as dual-fuel solutions.

Exhibition and demonstration vehicles with FEV technology
In order to make FEV technologies visible and, in the truest sense of the word, perceptible in their application environment, the Aachen-based service provider is focusing on exhibition and demonstration vehicles that reflect the results of different projects: With the Lamborghini Asterion, the Italian super sports car manufacturer will demonstrate a new drive concept at the FEV booth that offers tremendous athleticism, paired with a significantly reduced CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption.  

In addition, FEV will exhibit a Mercedes-AMG A45 in which a 48V electrical system and an e-charger have been integrated, providing further improvements to the driving performance of this already sporty compact-class vehicle.

The ‘Breeze’ demonstration vehicle represents a purely regenerative solution, featuring a hydrogen fuel cell with 30 kW in addition to an e-drive. In addition to improved NVH behavior, the technology achieves an electric range of about 300 kilometers and emission-free operation in range extender mode.

Powerful Development Tools
FEV offers a broad range of tools for optimizing and accelerating development work, including hardware and software products and processes that relocate significant parts of the development from the road to the test bench or even from the test bench to the desk. FEV’s Virtual Engine software further enables dynamic analyses of the drivetrain to be performed, already during the concept phase, and is thus an important tool that reduces both testing times and costs. The international engineering services provider will also be presenting an effective technology for the NVH optimization of engines – the FEV Soundbar.

About FEV
The FEV Group with headquarters in Aachen, Germany, is an internationally recognized development service provider for drive and vehicle technologies. The company offers its global transport industry customers a complete range of engineering services, providing support in the design, analysis and prototyping for powertrain and transmission development, as well as vehicle integration, calibration and homologation for advanced internal combustion gasoline-, diesel-, and alternative-fueled powertrains. FEV's competencies also include design, development and prototyping of innovative vehicle concepts, powertrain electronic control systems and hybrid-electric engine concepts that address future emission and fuel economy standards. The Test Systems division is a global supplier of advanced test cell, instrumentation and test equipment. The FEV Group employs a staff of over 4,000 highly skilled specialists at advanced technical centers on three continents.