Twice as efficient: Hybrid development at MBtech

There is not question that the fuel consumption and thus the emissions of modern vehicles need to be drastically reduced. In this regard almost no other key word is mentioned as often as "hybrid" - the combination of combustion engines and electric motors. The parallel or dual concepts offer a number of fundamental advantages: Depending on the load, an electric motor supports the combustion engine or takes over entirely. This enables the combustion engine to run steadily within an optimal operating range while the electric motor provides considerably higher torque when starting and accelerating. This delivers a substantially more efficient energy usage and can contribute to reducing noise and emissions in inner-city areas.

"Because modern hybrid systems offer both passenger vehicle drivers and commercial vehicle or bus fleet owners clear benefits, I am absolutely certain that the market share for these vehicles will continue to grow strongly," explained Werner Kropsbauer, MBtech Group President and Spokesman. Consequently, the trend of offering vehicles with additional hybrid variants could substantially increase in the coming years - for both commercial vehicles and buses as well as for passenger vehicles.

However, the benefits which hybrid variants truly provide to the end customers and the additional costs for the manufacturers depend on the concrete realization and efficient development and production processes. As an engineering and consulting service provider, MBtech supports its customers - manufacturers and suppliers in the automotive industry - with a broad range of competencies throughout the product development process. These range from defining a suitable hybrid concept and developing the associated operating strategy to the vehicle-specific adaptation and integration of the hybrid components onward to prototype construction, driving trials and testing. MBtech is currently involved in a number of development projects of this nature.

For example, MBtech already offers support regarding the issue of which hybrid concept is best suited to which application. Recording driving profiles and load spectrums delivers a precise analysis of the operational area. MBtech then works together with its customers to develop the suitable hybrid concept and the correct operating strategy. An integrated energy management is the primary factor influencing the actual savings potential. MBtech contributes its experience in programming and testing control units to this area. The interaction between the programmed functions enables optimized operating phases in which, for example, the electric motor is simultaneously activated or the combustion engine shut down. The control units critical to the function of the entire vehicle are developed to series maturity using MBtech's own testing facilities.

MBtech's experts then integrate the selected hybrid components and systems into the powertrain and the vehicle electrical system. Also associated with this are adjustments to the entire vehicle and its peripherals - as well as the adaptation and application of engine and drivetrain in accordance with the previously defined operative strategy. MBtech constructs prototypes and single-run vehicles and tests these as well as the pre-series vehicles at its own proving grounds. MBtech has developed customized testing and inspection procedures which ensure that every vehicle reliably fulfills all of the requirements placed on modern hybrid technologies.

However, not only the technical aspect is important for the hybrid models' breakthrough. If hybrid vehicles are to succeed on the market, the costs for the end customers must remain manageable. This is above all the case when the conceptual design of the complex alternative drive, the series production planning and the supplier management all mesh optimally with each other. This is precisely where MBtech's dual competence comes into play: "Customers who involve MBtech in hybrid integration projects from an early stage not only profit from the technological know-how but also from the consulting competence," explained Hartmut Tresp, President of the MBtech Group. "The more complex the vehicle technologies become, the more important the profound understanding of all of the associated procedures becomes - this is the only mode to consistently implement our consultants' Lean Enterprise approach." MBtech has adapted its corporate structure to heavy demand for hybrid projects: A superordinate project house, headed by Martin Ott, handles the project management and integrates the essential know-how from the MBtech segments specific to the particular customer function. This structure also aims to expand the company's competencies in the alternative drives field.

Numerous reference projects have proven that the industry values MBtech's know-how. During the development of a diesel hybrid bus MBtech took on a comprehensive range of vehicle electronics tasks - from optimizing the operating strategy on the basis of the driving behavior and consumption simulations, the control unit integration and function simulation onward to high-voltage wiring. The operating strategy and the energy management, in particular, are the soul of the serial hybrid bus in which the diesel engine now serves as a generator, providing the electrical energy which is stored in batteries and utilized by the electrical hub motors for propulsion.
In addition, MBtech has completed a hybrid project for small truck models. MBtech specialists converted a number of series vehicles into parallel hybrid vehicles. The small truck can now be run using the 35 kW electric motor, the 92 kW turbo diesel or both engines at the same time. When braking the electric engine functions as a generator, transforming the energy generated into electricity which is then stored in accumulators.