People + Companies

NEWS People + Companies

ZF | Development of Solutions for Combustion Engines Ends From now on the automotive supplier ZF intends to focus increasingly on electrifed vehicles, as representatives of the company explained during a virtual press conference. No more pow- ertrain components will be developed that are suitable for the assembly in vehicles with only combustion engines. “We will no longer be developing for combustion engines. There will be no more conventional ZF transmissions,” said Dr. Michael Ebenhoch, Head of Development in the car driveline technology division. However, the company is working on the basis that hybrid and electric cars will be in use in parallel for many years to come, because they have different applications. “The precise breakdown between the two is not yet clear and so we are working closely on both types of powertrain,” explained Ebenhoch. ZF is continuing to ZF

© develop plug-in hybrid vehicles with a much longer range in electric mode than has been the ZF will focus entirely on electrifed vehicles in the future case in the past.

ISP | Test Center for Battery Modules The independent testing institute ISP is expanding its engine and vehicle test facilities and chemical and physical laboratories to meet the requirements of electric mobility. The company has invested 60 million euros in a test facility for battery modules and packs, opening up a new area of business and adding all the services for the validation and endurance testing of batteries to its portfolio. The battery test facility will offer performance and life cycle tests, environmental tests, and safety and abuse tests for batteries in hybrid and electric vehicles. ISP

The frst phase of the construction project includes twelve pack and 20 module test benches, © and 78 battery simulators. The frst battery tests in the new test facility are already planned Virtual view of the interior of the planned test facility for for the end of 2020. The second phase will be completed at the end of 2021. validation and endurance testing of batteries

Edag | Engineering Center in The Edag Group has opened its frst site in Turkey. The addition of the new ­engineering center in Bilisim Vadisi brings the company’s international pres- ence to more than 60 sites. As the engineering partner, Edag has been working on the overall development of the frst battery electric vehicle for the Turkish car manufacturer Togg since 2019. The new offces in Bilisim Vadisi, which cover an area of 600 m², now also enable local support for other customers. Mertcan Kaptanoglu will manage the new site and will put together a develop- Edag

© ment team of around 30 people in the near future. The Edag Group plans to expand its activities in Turkey constantly

AVL | Test Centers for Bertrandt The Austrian Development Service Provider AVL is building and equipping two test centers for conventional and alternative powertrains on behalf of its partner Bertrandt, based in Ehningen (). The construction of the two test centers in Freising near and in Tappenbeck near (both Germany), each of which covers an area the size of two soccer pitches, is going ahead on schedule, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Bertrandt has invested around 80 million euros in the two facilities. The project includes planning the entire building, the dynamometers, the workshop areas and the utilities. The centers will be Bertrandt

used for testing and validating both conventional powertrains and electric drives to ensure © that they meet legal requirements. They are equipped with climate-controlled all-wheel-drive Dynamometer from Austria at the dynamometers and an all-wheel-drive dynamometer with altitude chamber. Bertrandt test center in Germany 6 People + Companies

ATZ | Schaeffler | Wagner Joins Scientific Advisory Board

Uwe Wagner, CTO at Schaeffer, is joining the Scientifc IMPULSES Advisory Board of ATZ. Wagner has a degree in mechani- Dr. Johannes Liebl cal engineering with focus on real-time data processing, Editor in Charge ATZ | MTZ | ATZelectronics control systems, and precision and micro engineering from the University of Stuttgart. He began his career in 1993 as Development Engineer in the feld of control hydraulics for automatic transmissions at LuK. In the Schaeffler years that followed he held various management posi- © Uwe Wagner tions before being appointed Head of the transmission technologies business unit in 2007. Wagner became a member of the managing board of the automotive division when he took on the role of No Action for Action’s Sake Head of Automotive R&D in 2014. Two years later he was also appointed to the same position for the industrial division. He has held is current position since October 2019. The European Union’s plan is for the individual mobility requirements of European citizens to be met in the future solely by electrically powered cars. As a result, the EU is no longer funding research projects that aim to develop the com­ PSA | Müller Heads bustion engine further. Car manufacturers are Powertrain and Chassis Engineering using phased-out models of their engines in their PHEV powertrains and the Christian Müller has been appointed Head of ­supplier ZF has announced that it will no longer ­Powertrain and Chassis Engineering at Groupe be working on drive concepts with combustion PSA. He reports to Nicolas Morel, Executive Vice engines. The German automotive industry has President Research and Development. Previously responded. It has too often been accused of miss­ Müller had been Head of Engineering at since ing out on the electrifcation of powertrains and 2017. Before that he held the position of Vice Presi- ­leaving this technology to its Asian competitors.

A dent GM Global Propulsion Systems Europe. Müller, PS having a master’s degree in mechanical engineer- The “In the Spotlight” article in the summer issues © of ATZ, MTZ and ATZelectronics highlights a change Christian Müller ing, succeeds Alain Raposo who is leaving Groupe of strategy in . Until the middle of 2019, the PSA. Marcus Lott, currently Vice President Body­- ­ Chinese New Energy Vehicle regulation was respon­ in-white, Equipment and Materials Engineering, and an engineer at Opel since sible for accelerating the development of BEVs, 1994, is the new Head of Research and Development for the German brand and FCEVs and PHEVs. Now the subsidies have been a member of the managing board of Opel. reduced by up to 75 %. The target for feet consump­ tion is becoming more important and effcient com­ bustion engines designed for widespread use could play a crucial role in successfully achieving it.

Continental | Petznick At the start of the year Prof. Norimasa Iida from Becomes Head of Driver Assistance Keio University in Tokyo () gave a presen­tation at the engine congress in Baden-Baden (Germany) Frank Petznick has taken over the management of the about the change of strategy in Asia and described advanced driver assistance systems business unit at technical solutions that have increased engine eff­ ­Continental and become a member of the management ciency levels to over 50 %. In MTZ 07-08/2020, board of the autonomous mobility and safety business Hyundai presented the technology behind its small­- area. Petznick, who has a degree in electrical engineer- capacity Smartstream combustion engines. The ing, succeeds Karl Haupt. The latter left Continental after South Korean manufacturer has put more technical over 36 years with the company. Petznick has many years effort than is normal for this class of car into bringing Continental of experience in both the automotive manufacturer and about considerable improvements in effciency. The © aim is for the widespread use of the engine to reduce Frank Petznick their supplier industries. Most recently, as a member of its feet consumption signifcantly. the electronics executive board at Hella, he was respon­ sible for the global automated driving product center. He began his career in 1998 at Here in Europe we need to evaluate this change in as Project Manager and later became Project Leader for Electronic Systems. strategy carefully. Electric vehicles alone will not In 2003 he moved to the development service provider Bertrandt, where he worked for take us where we need to go. fve years in various management positions in the feld of electronics and infotainment.

ATZ worldwide 10|2020 7