Automotive News Europe - May 2019 - 35

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

SUPPLIERS

Electric Drive

Within the ePowertrain unit, what is the split between
conventional all-wheel-drive systems and electricdrive systems?
Our total turnover in all-wheel and electric drive is 1.3 billion euros in sales. Electric-drive systems are a smaller
part of that, but it will grow rapidly. Within the last year,
we have seen a 50 percent increase in the value of our edrive order book, from 2 billion euros (about $2.25 billion)
at the end of 2018 to 3 billion euros (about $3.4 billion)
now. We are predicting that the market for all-wheel-drive
products will grow at a low rate until 2030. We are aware
that in the long term, our conventional systems will be replaced by electric all-wheel-drive systems, namely the P4
e-axle [where the electric motor is integrated at the axle].

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Regarding the P4 all-wheel-drive systems, we are
now seeing electric motors independent of the engine, but are they sufficient for heavy-duty uses
such as rough terrain or pulling a trailer?
We need to do some more development work. But with
different ranges of torque and electric motor power, it
shouldn't be an issue to pull a boat from the water, for example, or climb a hill. You will also need a two-speed gearbox with a low range and a high range for normal roads.
We have also done some simulation studies that combine
an electric driveline with conventional all-wheel drive -- instead of an internal combustion engine, you have a big
electric motor. Then you have a propshaft to the rear with
a conventional all-wheel-drive system. That's one possible
future for the U.S. light-duty [pickup] market.
Electrification encompasses a wide range, from mild
hybrid systems all the way up to full-electric vehicles. Are you focusing on a specific area?
Our focus is definitely on P4 solutions. Our EDUs [electricdrive units], work with battery-electric or fuel cell vehicles
or plug-in and conventional hybrids. We try to standardize
as much as possible so we have product families to meet
all the requirements for different segments.
How does your customer base break down by region,
and where are you forecasting growth?
We are well-distributed in the main regions -- Europe,
the Americas and Asia -- but again, we don't expect
huge growth in the conventional all-wheel-drive business. However, we see big growth in electric drive
in Europe and Asia. Our market forecasts are for
110 million vehicles produced globally in 2030, with
20 percent electric vehicles, including fuel cells;
10 percent plug-in or high-voltage hybrids; and 30 percent mild hybrids. That still leaves 40 percent internal
combustion engines.
What innovations are you most excited about?
What we are excited about is torque vectoring [in which
the differential varies the torque supplied to each
wheel]. Conventional cars and electric vehicles are becoming heavier, but customers still expect a high level
of safety and driving dynamics. Torque vectoring is key
to this. Another point is that we need to be cost competitive, and that is also driving innovations in manufacturing and materials. Design to cost is what we need to
do, and that means working with manufacturing engiANE
neering and logistics.

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Automotive News Europe - May 2019

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