IAA 2007: More Vehicle Electronics = Less CO₂ – Siemens VDO presents new solutions for more efficient drives

Siemens VDO offers automobile manufacturers comprehensive system expertise that makes vehicle powertrains even more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly. The best example of this is piezo technology, which was used for the first time worldwide in diesel engines with common rail injection in 2000 and transferred to gasoline engines in 2006. When compared to conventional manifold port injection, piezo direct injection in gasoline engines offers up to a 20 percent improvement in fuel economy and a similar reduction in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.

Gasoline engines turbo chargers

Siemens VDO's turbo charger being debuted to the public in Frankfurt helps combustion engines become even more efficient and represents another step in the company’s expansion of its role as a capable systems provider. Siemens VDO is driving turbo charger technology forward at the component, system and integration levels. Looking ahead to the future, turbo chargers are becoming an increasingly integral component of a comprehensive engine management system. Corresponding system expertise also is being applied to the “Low- CO₂” demonstration vehicle Siemens VDO is jointly developing with industry partners like Lotus Engineering and Emitec in an effort to achieve even lower CO₂ emissions in the future.

Especially when paired with direct injection, the turbo charger offers "downsizing" opportunities, meaning the use of smaller, more fuel-efficient gasoline engines with otherwise identical performance characteristics. Thus, it is possible to reduce CO₂ emissions by more than 15 percent, bringing gasoline engines nearly to the level of modern diesel engines.

Diesel engine emission management

A diesel engine already produces 25 percent less CO₂ than a gasoline engine and Siemens VDO's piezo technology can offer another three percent reduction when compared to conventional diesel direct injection. However, the industry's next significant challenge is the further reduction of nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions. The Euro 5 standards for regulating pollutant emissions being introduced in 2009 and the Euro 6 standards for particulate matter and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions being introduced in 2014 will require further deep-seated technical adjustments, Siemens VDO is helping vehicle and engine manufacturers meet this challenge with a system approach to reducing emissions over the long term, while being consumption- and cost-conscious. The new Engine Emission Management concept is based on a modular set of components for optimization within the engine, exhaust gas after-treatment and engine management. The components, which are included in this tool kit, can be combined in virtually any way according to vehicle and output class and effort to get small economy cars to heavy off-road vehicles safely over Euro 5 and Euro 6 emission standards hurdles.

Electrification of the drivetrain

Siemens VDO hybrid drives are another step towards lower emissions by combining combustion and electric motors in the same vehicle. Siemens VDO currently is focusing on developing high-voltage solutions for full and mild hybrid applications. Siemens VDO has more than 20 years of experience in striving for the perfect interaction of electric engines and performance electronics, as well as in integrated engine and drivetrain management components and systems. Thus the hybrid vehicle’s energy storage can be optimally charged during braking, allowing energy to be transmitted to the drivetrain again when the vehicle accelerates. This can achieve consumption advantages of more than 25 percent (in the NEDC), which yields noticeable environmental benefits in the form of CO₂ savings. Hybrid engines signal a long-term paradigm shift towards electric driving. The electric drive is being debated as the powertrain solution of the future and one of the leading solutions to the challenge of meeting even the most stringent emissions regulations.

Electronics reduce fuel consumption

Integrating automotive electronic components can contribute to a substantially better CO₂ balance sheet. The reduction of CO₂ emissions also is part of the focus of electrical energy management. To accomplish this, Siemens VDO develops intelligent solutions that, depending on the expansion level, reduce consumption and CO₂ emissions considerably, particularly when working together with hybrid drives. Efficient energy management makes it possible to introduce electrically operated power steering, which requires up to two percent less fuel than hydraulic servo steering. The use of electric water, oil and fuel pumps, dependent on engine requirements, could save about up to two percent of fuel. Tire pressure monitoring systems can alert the driver when pressure is too low, which can help reduce CO₂ emissions by up to three percent.

Thinking ahead – the emission-free driving vision

Siemens VDO already is thinking about new technologies supporting far-reaching climate protection and setting groundbreaking technological trends that will be seen in vehicles on our streets over the coming decades. One solution already on the horizon is the integration of electrical components for the drive, steering and shock absorption, as well as the electronic wedge brake, in the wheels of the car of tomorrow. Called “eCorner,” the concept is the basis of environmentally friendly vehicles and an emission-free future that has already begun at Siemens VDO.

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