European automakers don't have time to wait for new batteries or complete engine redesigns to help them meet upcoming emissions standards. Instead, they are developing "microhybrid" systems that boost fuel efficiency by fine-tuning engines' electrical systems.
BMW already features microhybrid technology in some production models. Ford plans to introduce similar technologies in its European production vehicles in two years, said Peter Schmidt, a technical specialist and team leader for hybrid technologies at Ford's research center in Aachen, Germany.
"The beauty of this approach is that you don't need to wait for a (major) battery breakthrough," said Thomas Keim, assistant director of MIT's Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems.
Automakers have been butting heads with the European Union for years over fuel and emissions standards. European carmakers are facing looming rules that would base taxes on CO² emissions. Also, 15 EU members have agreed to cut current greenhouse gas emissions 8 percent by 2012. And last week the EU committed to a long-term emissions reduction of 20 percent by 2020 -- and it will raise that target to 30 percent if other major polluters like the United States and China get with the program.
Meanwhile, EU gas emissions increased in 2006 for the second year in a row. The pressure is on for European carmakers to improve fuel efficiency, and companies are counting on software and electrical engineering to save the day.
For Ford, that's where John Kessels of Eindhoven University in the Netherlands came in. He developed a software tweak that reduced fuel consumption by 2.6 percent when tested on a Ford Mondeo with a 2-liter gas engine and a five-speed manual transmission ("a normal car for the EU," Kessels said).
That doesn't sound like much, but company bosses say such modifications are possible without passing a high cost to customers and without sacrificing performance. It's a small step that can add up over time, kind of like switching to diet soda.
The algorithm improves fuel efficiency by monitoring the vehicle's fuel map and other data to strategically switch the generator off and on, thereby using less energy to charge the battery. Standard internal combustion engines use the generator continuously.
BMW is also using some foundational hybrid technologies -- like stop-start and electricity regeneration -- to boost the fuel efficiency of its gasoline-powered cars.
The BMW's 2008 5-Series sold in Western Europe as well as the 1-Series now come with an Intelligent Alternator Control, or IAC, system that collects and reuses energy typically lost to heat dissipation. Unlike a traditional alternator that continually leaches power from the engine to top off a car's battery, this system disengages during acceleration, said Tom Plucinsky, BMW's product and technology communications manager.
Then, it engages during deceleration to reclaim energy from the spooled-up engine. A major component of the system is a special type of high-capacity battery that can power the car's hungriest electronic peripherals, like the air-conditioning compressor and power steering.
Software is instrumental in directing the system's functions to wring out efficiencies, Plucinsky said. IAC will eventually find its way into BMW's entire model range, and engineers say it will provide a 3 percent increase in each vehicle's fuel efficiency.
Software tweaks can optimize any drivetrain that involves an electrical power net -- the battery, generator and other electrical systems related to the vehicle's drivetrain -- including hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, Kessels said.
Ford is also developing incorporated idle-stop functionality, initially for delivery and transit vehicles, by replacing the conventional starter with an integrated starter-generator, said Monika Wagener, head of public affairs at the Ford research center.
Idle-start (or stop-start) technology automatically switches off the vehicle's engine as soon as the car comes to a stop, then restarts the engine when the clutch or accelerator pedal is depressed, using software to link sensors and other components. Kessels estimated that adding idle-start technology alongside his algorithmic fix could increase fuel savings by another 5 percent to 6 percent.
"Delivery vehicles spend up to 60 percent of their time idling," Wagener said. "Whenever a microhybrid vehicle stops at a light or a loading zone, the internal combustion engine is shut down. When the driver is ready, it starts up again within milliseconds."
Idle-stop can be done for every piston-engine car in the world to good effect.
In a production vehicle, however, it's a nontrivial challenge, Keim said: "It isn't just about software. It requires an electrical machine far more capable than any available today. And the result has to be acceptable to drivers. The restart time has to be faster than the driver's reflexes -- we're talking 200 milliseconds maximum. Your starter today won't do that."
But Ford will have lots of technologies to choose from, Wagener said. The company has relationships with about 50 universities around the world where researchers are investigating the next small, but significant, engine tweak.
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Mike Spinelli contributed to this report.
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