Propulsion Systems in Transition

Authors

Prof. Dr. Helmut List, Chairman and CEO, AVL List GmbH, Graz

Year

2018

Print Info

Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Series 12, No 807

Summary

In the course of the upcoming decade, the automotive industry will experience its most profound change in its more than one-hundred-year history. Networking cars with their environments and autonomous driving will not only increasingly dominate customers’ purchase behavior but will also allow a highly efficient and safe use of the automobile. “Shared mobility” and fully autonomous driving up to the level of “RoboCabs” will create new mobility scenarios. The postulation of CO₂-neutral and pollutant-free operation as well as an extended portfolio of different types of fuels are gaining influence on drive train technologies. However, public awareness of the car is becoming increasingly differentiated, especially today. Primarily in Europe, a technical, fact-based discussion has been pushed aside by a predominantly political, emotional debate. Potential driving restrictions in cities not only generate fearful scenarios but also dominate the customers' purchase behavior and eventually put the future of the Diesel engine in cars into question. This results in differentiated short-term, medium-term and long-term goals for the drivetrain.