Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.
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Early in May, the crème de la crème of engine designers and research and development executives met at the Vienna Engine Symposium to discuss future trends and technologies. As you’d probably expect, not a single lecture was singularly devoted to electric vehicles. But there was a lot of buzz about the Norwegian government’s plans to axe the subsidies for electrics. The country has been touted as leading the way towards an all-electric future, and EVs have been spectacularly successful there. Tesla, in particular, has been able to unload scores Model S high-performance sedans in the northern European nation, where the subsidy-floated EV costs as much as a plain VW Golf. Moreover, electrics are allowed to use bus and taxi lanes. This policy, along with the subsidies, is likely to be axed. It will be interesting to watch sales numbers henceforth.
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Meanwhile, BMW R&D chief Klaus Fröhlich admitted that “in the upper segment, it gets very difficult (for battery-electric vehicles),” venturing that” there are no satisfactory concepts, even though there are offerings in the market.” BMW will stick to smaller EVs and cover the top segments with plug-in hybrids.
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The best thing about the Vienna symposium was the array of technologies designed to improve the internal combustion engine, a propulsion setup we’re fans of, in case you hadn’t noticed. A rash of new three-bangers is encouraging, and Ford actually introduced a cylinder-deactivation system for the three-cylinder engine format. There is even room for electrification: “Small charged engines are gaining traction, they are losing belts and are fitted with electric auxiliary units” says Hans-Peter Lenz, head of the symposium in its 36th year. And most manufacturers are working on electric compressors that mitigate turbo lag, thus allowing the use of large turbochargers. Audi let us drive an RS5 TDI prototype last year that previewed the electric turbo technology, and the competition isn’t far behind.
-Supplier Schaeffler’s technology chief Peter Gutzmer brought up another interesting topic: While downsized gasoline engines work best with 6- to 7-speed dual-clutch transmissions, or torque-converter automatics with 8 to 10 gears, high-voltage hybrids and 48-volt mild hybrids will work well with just 4 to 6 gears. Interesting.
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Bosch: Electric Is the New Diesel
-The view on electrics was decidedly more euphoric at the Bosch Colloquium two weeks later. Rolf Bulander, head of “mobility solutions,” claimed that “Bosch has the experience to make alternative powertrains a success.” He went as fair as saying that “we achieved this with the diesel, and we can also do it with the electric.” Keep in mind that diesels capture about half of the total market share of car sales in Europe.
-Bosch believes that in ten years, a whopping 15 percent of the global automotive fleet will be hybridized or electric. And batteries would have twice the energy density, at half of the cost, within five years. One thing they don’t believe in: Battery changing stations. “The possibilities to turn them into reality are virtually zero.” We can’t help but remember Elon Musk’s astonishing battery changing demo of June 2013. Can Elon prove them wrong?
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- Ford Offers to License Its Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Patents to Other Automakers
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- BMW Will Make Plug-In-Hybrid Versions of Every Major Model
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- Tesla Model S Research: Full Pricing, Specs, Reviews, and More
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Notes from CES Asia
-Last weekend, I flew to the first Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia, a spinoff of the annual Las Vegas event that has morphed into the auto industry’s first event on the annual show calendar. The CES Asia is not nearly as big; yet it has the huge potential to grow and it was worth attending. It helps that we spent some quality time with Audi’s top brass. Here are a few notes:
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- The R8 e-tron, which will be “produced to order” only, was shown with a “piloted driving” function. The system will appear in the next-gen A8, but it could very well be offered in the R8, too.
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- R&D chief Ulrich Hackenberg says that the autonomous driving functions will be made available to other VW Group brands as well. The technology first appears on MLB vehicles, which stand on the Audi-developed modular-longitudinal platform, but will spread to the next generation of MQB cars later.
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- Audi is teaming up with Chinese tech giant Huawei for the Chinese-market infotainment systems. But they are so good, says Audi’s electronics guru Ricky Hudi, that they could become a global development partner.
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- Ulrich Hackenberg says that Silicon Valley is Number One in computing technology, but China holds the edge in battery technology, as well as TFT and OLED displays.
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- Audi’s marketing chief, Luca De Meo, expects the Chinese to develop their own notions of luxury. Today, they are still looking to the West “in an aspirational way, but I expect them to develop their own understanding and taste. They are going to become louder.” How loud? “It depends on the general role that China will assume in the world.”
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- And De Meo is no fan of overemphasizing heritage. “I think Audi has a big windscreen and a small rearview mirror.” He knows that not everyone within Audi agrees with him, but he has this gem to offer: “I used work for brands that had a much bigger history and no present.” He did not elaborate, but if we were to take a wild guess, we think he was talking about Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and Fiat.
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