Automotive Engineering - August 2022 - 34

Q&
A
Bosch tunes its business to new
mobility challenges
Components and systems that make up the heart of combustion-engine
powertrains have long reigned as a major profit
center for Bosch, and the company's commitment to sustaining
the ICE for as long as OEMs require is not vanishing. But as the
industry swings toward electrified, automated and connected
vehicles, new mobility solutions are needed. To help meet the
current and future transit needs of customers, Bosch is in the
process of hiring 10,000 software engineers and technicians
worldwide in 2022, and is investing $420 million in its North
American mobility business unit. Paul Thomas, executive VP of
mobility solutions for Bosch in the
Americas, recently spoke with SAE
Media Detroit editor Kami Buchholz
about new opportunities.
What is currently the industry's
main mobility challenge?
The industry's near-term challenge
is a scarcity of talent and a lack of
stability relating to supply and demand.
Over the next few years, that
talent shortage will need to support
both ICE-powered vehicles and electrified
vehicles, the latter requiring
infrastructure and investments to
support increased production.
How is Bosch positioned to help
provide solutions?
In the near term, we're trying to find
fast solutions to increase supply. For
the future, we're continuing to invest
in our core products that exist today
- ICE components, braking and
steering systems, thermal management
- and using those core business
investments as a leverage to
achieve new mobility solutions.
Among the mobility sectors, which
is taking an R&D priority?
We've spent roughly half a billion
dollars per year on electrification
since 2016. We offer multiple options
related to the electrical powertrain,
including advanced steering
and braking, charging solutions,
cloud services and thermal
management. Intelligent thermal
management alone can increase
the driving range of an EV by as
34 August 2022
much as 25%. EV thermal management products, like our flexible
thermal unit, are important as the global market for this
business is projected to reach $4 billion by decade's end.
We're also starting to increase our expenditures on the automated
and connectivity side of the business. Bottom line:
We will stay invested in all the PACE (powertrain, automated,
connected, electrified) areas.
How does Bosch North America define mobility?
Mobility is no longer just about moving people. It's also about
moving goods and forming partnerships.
For instance, our partnership
with Amazon Web Services is
focused on developing a softwareenabled
logistics platform for the
supply chain to help manage mobility.
That product's launch is expected
in late 2022. Anything that we
can do to help improve the movement
of people and goods, and
complement that with associated
services, is our mobility goal.
Collaboration can
propel R&D, says
Bosch's Paul Thomas.
We've spent roughly
half a billion dollars per
year on electrification
since 2016.
How can collaboration help propel
mobility R&D?
Bringing partners together with
different backgrounds and different
wants can be very beneficial.
As one example, the Detroit Smart
Parking Lab (DSPL) was founded
by a real estate developer
(Bedrock), a tier one supplier
(Bosch), a global OEM (Ford) and
a government agency (State of
Michigan). Operated by the
American Center for Mobility, the
DSPL promotes a collaborative
environment to test emerging
technologies. All of the work being
done is happening inside a
parking garage.
On a recent project, each party
had different views of what a firstand
last-mile solution would look
like. For that R&D project, we arrived
at a solution that met the
requirements of a diverse group of
partners. The DSPL has different
ongoing collaborative projects involving
various companies, including
startups.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
BOSCH
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