Towards a Sustainable Vehicle Concept Part 2: Extreme Cost Reduced EDU with High Efficiency and Sustainability

Authors

C. Danzer, S. Günther, V. Ambrosius, T. Arnold, T. Orlik, T. Voigt, M. Prüger, M. Barth, R. Kockisch, M. Lindner, A. Fandakov, H. Rabba, M. Sens - IAV GmbH

Summary

For the next generation of electric vehicles, the cost pressure will dominate the optimization of the entire propulsion system from the sideshafts to the charging plug. Towards a sustainable vehicle concept, IAV continues its way of a technology-oriented improvement of all powertrain system components in terms of cost, efficiency and sustainability.

Beside the innovative battery concept, IAV will focus in this paper on the electric drive unit (EDU). In contrast to improving the power density of electric axles with the aim of higher performance, IAV will use innovative technology to downsize the components as much as possible. This mindset enables a more efficient usage of resources combined with a strong focus on costs and efficiency. Therefore, IAV applies the advanced phase change cooling technology (PCC) which offers the potential to close the gap between peak and continuous power level. The approach will answer the question, how far it is possible to reduce the size of electrical machine and inverter by ensuring the same vehicle performance. Beside this, IAV will investigate alternative motor materials for winding and magnets with the aim to reduce the environmental impacts and the costs to the absolute minimum. Furthermore, important system parameters like voltage level and chip type of the inverter will be analyzed systematically.

Finally, IAV will recommend the best-balanced powertrain system and its potential for the next generation of a sustainable electric mobility.