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05/24/2006 18.05.06 | Siemens VDO is forging ahead with the development of hybrid technology. The automotive supplier expects to have a demonstration vehicle with a full hybrid system available for testing purposes by the end of 2006. As the company research magazine Pictures of the Future reports in its latest issue, the sports coupe will feature a 2.3-liter supercharged engine supplemented by a 75-kilowatt electric motor. The test vehicle, which is equipped with an automatic transmission and a high-power battery, will be able to operate fully electrically and therefore entirely without emissions — although its purpose is not only to demonstrate the potential for energy savings but also to provide driving fun. Studies today assume that the greatest growth potential for hybrid vehicles will be in the U.S. and Asia. Today, nine of every 10 hybrids are already sold in the U.S. Experts predict that by 2012 the world market for such vehicles will have grown to 1.5 million a year. Hybrid vehicles face considerable technical challenges, not least because they operate at higher voltages and currents than are used by the electric components in today's automobiles. Engineers are also working hard to reduce the size of electric motors. Siemens VDO, for example, is currently optimizing electric motors in common use as well as developing new drive concepts. The aim here is to supply automakers with all the components required for an electrical drive system from a single source. In parallel, Siemens Corporate Technology is busy enhancing the power electronics and has cooperated on a number of EU-sponsored projects in this field. These have resulted in, for example, silicon components for the control electronics that are capable of withstanding significantly higher temperatures. At the same time, researchers are currently investigating the feasibility of a fully electronic transmission that would completely replace the mechanical system conventionally used. The system would combine the transmission, clutch, electric motor, generator and starter all in one unit, thus enabling the internal combustion engine to transmit torque to the drive shaft in a continuously variable manner. (IN 2006.05.4)