FEV shows “Smart Vehicle” Development at the 25^th Aachen Colloquium on Automobile and Engine Technology

Telematics Systems, Connectivity, and Alternative Drive Units: At the 25^th annual Colloquium on Automobile and Engine Technology in Aachen, Germany, FEV will be presenting its smart vehicle development system, an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to the development of connected and automated vehicles.

FEV, a global engineering service provider, will present its expertise and tools related to “Smart Vehicle” development at this year’s 25^th Aachen Colloquium on Automobile and Engine Technology. Using a holistic approach, the company has dedicated itself to devising intelligent vehicles and powertrain solutions. In addition to driver assistance systems and automated driving functions, this includes networking in the sense of Car2X and Car2Cloud communication and the closely linked topic of cyber security. FEV developers are also focusing on differing mobility requirements – from mild hybrid to battery-electric vehicles and even fuel cell drives.

“Development tasks for both OEMs and service providers are becoming increasingly complicated as a result of the integration of new functions, interfaces, and components. This requires not only appropriate teams of experts, but also benchmarking databases and powerful tools,” explains Professor Stefan Pischinger, president and CEO of the FEV Group. “With our “Smart Vehicle” development strategy, we are responding to these challenges with a multidisciplinary and holistic approach that enables short development times and reliable results.”

Wide Variety of Functions and Providers Requires Connected System Thinking
From a development standpoint, the increasing connectedness of vehicles means the rise of countless new functions, providers, and development tasks. Under contract to its customers, FEV develops hardware components and control software for connected cars. It also tests and validates features and functions for various domain controllers. In this way, technologies from different suppliers and a variety of industries can be integrated into end-to-end systems and validated in the connected vehicle ecosystem. Dr. Thomas Hülshorst, group vice president of electronics and electrification at FEV, explains, “In order to control the plurality of the resulting interactions inside, outside and around the vehicle, it is essential to consider the full system at every stage of development.  Using this ‘connected system thinking’ approach, we are able to conduct extensive design, integration and validation tasks in a short time. Automated development and testing equipment play a key role in that.”

Powerful Telematics Tools
FEV already exploits the advantages of simulation and modeling for development and testing purposes in its everyday customer projects. For example, the FEV Telematics System Tester (TST) makes it possible to apply and evaluate hundreds of different scenarios in a controlled environment in the shortest possible time.

Cyber Security Becoming More Important
With the increasing incorporation of data-based content in modern vehicles, cyber security is becoming increasingly important. The more interfaces a vehicle has, the more vulnerable it becomes. FEV offers its customers comprehensive analysis of risks, threats, and vulnerabilities as well as specific cyber security gateways. The cyber security gateway is connected to the vehicle’s communications bus to detect and prevent malicious attacks. It can also be used as a firewall between external interfaces and the vehicle bus to prevent cyberattacks.

Drive Units and Components for Various Mobility Concepts
Extensive experience, a global complement of resources, and it’s interdisciplinary project teams allow FEV to support its customers in the development of alternative drive unit solutions for various mobility concepts. FEV’s services range from the initial concept to series production, both for components such as electrical motors or batteries, as well as for complete powertrain or vehicle concepts. “The experience we have gained from more than 18 years of work in more than 60 hybrid and electric drive development projects as well as advanced solutions we have developed for hybrid controls and battery management make us a highly valued partner to the OEMs and suppliers,” explains Hülshorst. “Our combined expertise covers all of the individual component as well as complete systems for every degree of electrification – from micro hybrids all the way to pure battery-electric drives.”

FEV also recently integrated a fuel cell range extender in a subcompact vehicle. The technology allows emissions-free driving with a range of 280 kilometers and a top speed of approximately 120 km/h (75 mph), regardless of the battery’s charge state. In addition, the system has a power reserve so that uphill climbs on the highway do not have to be entirely compensated by the battery. With the appropriate infrastructure in place, the hydrogen tank can be refilled in a matter of minutes and driver’s journey could continue without restriction.

FEV will present a multimedia exhibit at this year’s Aachen Colloquium (Booth E04) that will feature presentations on every aspect of smart vehicle development. FEV’s experts will be available at the Company’s exhibit for technical discussion.