Powertrain Including Automatic Transmission for the A-Segment
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COVER STORY FUTURE POWERTRAIN STRATEGIES POWERTRAIN INCLUDING AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FOR THE A-SEGMENT The A-segment is very versatile. In this article, FEV describes the requirements for this vehicle class, focusing on the conventional powertrain. Worldwide conventional powertrain trends are indicated and the article offers a prac- tically-oriented proposal with regard to a small, compact automatic transmission, explicitly for these vehicles. © FEV 26 www.autotechreview.com AUTHors MARKET A-segment vehicles are primarily used in or near towns and cities. On an The A-segment achieved a worldwide annual basis, the average mileage is sales volume of 5.2 mn vehicles in 2014, around 10,000 km. Results from an FEV representing approximately six per cent of endurance fleet testing programme indic- the total worldwide market volume for ate that driving distances exceeding 40 passenger cars. The majority of these km/day are rare. On most days, the max- DR.-ING. INGO STEINBERG is Group Vice President of Business vehicles are equipped with conventional imum distance driven was on the order Unit Transmission Systems at FEV powertrains consisting of a gasoline of 20 km. The average distance was 17.7 GmbH in Aachen (Germany). engine and a five-speed manual transmis- km/day and the average vehicle speed sion. However, the Japanese market rep- was 36 km/h. resents an exception, where, in this So-called “stop phases” occupy a large vehicle class, the continuously variable fraction of the time within the typical transmission (CVT) is also strongly rep- driving profile for A-class vehicles. As resented. The gasoline engine is also oper- determined by a test vehicle that was ated with alternative fuels in many mar- operated over the entire test period with a DR.-ING. MARC DANIEL kets; for example, in South America. In large number of start-off events, the is Team Leader Thermodynamic Gasoline Engines at FEV GmbH in India, in particular, an automated five- vehicle was stopped for over 15 % of the Munich (Germany). speed manual transmission is preferen- time. Examinations carried-out in Asian tially offered in new applications. conurbations show stop phases of up to An annual growth of around two per 25 % of the total driving duration. In the cent is forecasted for this A-class vehicle discussion below, the corresponding segment until 2022. 1 shows the global vehicle requirements are discussed. volume distribution for the A-segment across individual markets. Western DIPL.-ING. PATRICK GLUSK Europe, Japan and India represent the VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS is Senior Consultant at strongest markets, accounting for over FEV Consulting GmbH in Aachen (Germany) 60 % of the total number of vehicles Upcoming vehicles in the A-segment are sold. Sales growth in India will probably expected to change noticeably. New compensate for the decreasing sales requirements will be gradually introduced volumes in the Japanese market. depending on the market, starting with Slightly decreasing numbers are also the upper vehicle classes: forecast for China. However, increased :: Additional comfort and safety func- sales in the other markets make the tions, such as Brake Assist or Lane overall, global growth possible. Assist; :: Additional networking, such as car- to-X communication (“Connected Vehicles”); :: More extensive requirements for active and passive safety; :: Provision of a “Battery Electric Vehicle” variant; :: Coasting operation and, in the final development stage, autonomous driv- ing; and :: Extension of the warranty period to at least five years beginning with the registration of the vehicle. The A-segment is typified by high cost pressure and strong competition. The cus- tomer expects these additional vehicle features, but is not willing to pay a higher price for them. Existing vehicle compon- ents must be manufactured more econom- ically or must provide a significant advantage to the customer in order to sur- vive the competitive market for the com- 1 A-segment global volume and sales growth until 2022 (© FEV, LMC, 2015) plete vehicle. autotechreview October 2016 Volume 5 | Issue 10 27 COVER STORY FUTURE POWERTRAIN STRATEGIES Many vehicle functions require an class, this means a transition away from WLTP. In particular, the low part-load automatic transmission, when using a today’s strategy of building with several range, which has a dominant influence conventional powertrain. Beyond this, drive shafts as short as possible, but in the NEDC on the cycle consumption, an automatic transmission is well suited wider instead. The A-segment demands is becoming less important. to the urban driving profile, because it slender powertrains. The proposal for a Therefore, a substantial reduction of increases comfort with regard to the small automatic transmission considers CO2 must be achieved in the future in the large number of gear shifts and start- this central spatial requirement. central load range of the map. In CO2 stop events. sensitive markets, naturally aspirated The spatial requirement of the passen- engines will increasingly be replaced by ger compartment also represents a tech- INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE small-volume turbocharged engines. Tur- nical challenge. 2 shows the development (ICE) DEVELOPMENT TRENDS bocharging is the main technology used of the wheel track of the driving axle of to achieve, on one hand, a reduction in three vehicles in this small vehicle class. Due to the high cost pressure in the A-seg- fuel consumption through a reduction in Within two successive vehicle genera- ment, naturally aspirated engines with displacement (downsizing) and the adap- tions, the wheel track of the driving axle port fuel injection are predominantly ted longer gearbox ratio (downspeeding) was widened by at least 40 mm. The used. The increasing CO2 requirements and, on the other hand, to meet customer cause of this is the larger vehicle width at worldwide are forcing manufacturers to demands with regard to driving perform- shoulder height as a means of offering the significantly improve fuel consumption. ance. Turbocharging goes hand in hand customer greater comfort. It is to be With the limitation of the number of par- with a conversion from port fuel injection expected that this width will increase by ticulate emission, an additional emission to direct injection. Full potential of a tur- at least a further 40 mm in the coming component has been added that requires bocharged engine concept can only be vehicle generations. special attention during an engine devel- realised with direct injection. The situation is different when opment process. At the same time, cus- A further trend is becoming apparent it comes to the vehicle length. The tomer requirements for driving perform- in the gas exchange strategy. In the past, spatial requirements for the powertrain ance are increasing, requiring further the event lengths for the intake and are becoming more complex. The increases in the power and torque output exhaust valve stroke were, above all, customer expects more usable space. engines in the A-segment. filling-optimised. In contrast, the Miller For reasons of comfort, the passenger In Europe, the test procedure is chan- cycle for a turbocharged engine in con- compartment requires a greater length. ging from NEDC to WLTP. A similar junction with a short intake event length Battery electric vehicles require space, development is expected in China, from according to the early intake valve closing especially for placement of the battery NEDC to FTP-75. The common goal of (EIVC) strategy represents a between both axles. these changes is to adapt the certification non-filling-optimised gas exchange The powertrain will have to be to the real driving cycles and to further strategy. The advantage of this, apart from restricted in the direction of vehicle tighten the boundary conditions. This improving the pumping losses, is that the travel, but will be given additional development has a considerable influ- effective compression ratio is lowered. design options transverse to the direc- ence on engine manufacturers. Techno- As a result, the geometrical compres- tion of travel due to the use of three-cyl- logy potentials must be re-evaluated. 3 sion ratio can be increased by up to two inder engines and a larger vehicle wheel clearly illustrates the change of the load units. This improves the thermodynamic track. For transmissions in this vehicle spectrum in the NEDC compared to the efficiency of the ICE. In particular, there is a significant improvement in fuel con- sumption in the central map area. At present, variable cam phasing units are mainly used to individually optimise the gas exchange with respect to the operat- ing point. This variability will be exten- ded in future so that it will also be pos- sible to optimise the event length of the intake valve lift curve to the operating point. In the cost-sensitive A-segment, sliding cam systems in particular will be used to implement the switchover of the valve lift curve. Fully variable systems will also be used in isolated cases. Their market share is, however, limited by the higher system costs. Above all, in order to fulfil the CO2 fleet consumptions after 2021, cooled 2 Increase of driving axle wheel track (© FEV) 28 www.autotechreview.com are and will remain significantly lower. 4 shows the CO2 requirements in India for the period from 2016 to 2021 and for the period after 2021. The average vehicle weight in Europe is 1,377.4 kg. The agreed and binding CO2 target for that weight is 95 g/km in NEDC for 2021. In India, for the same vehicle weight, the CO2 target is 124.6 g/km, this means 31 % lower than the European value. The CO2 target level in India for 2021 is therefore comparable to values reached in Europe today. Due to this environment, the naturally aspir- 3 Fuel share comparison in NEDC versus WLTP (© FEV) ated engine with port fuel injection will continue to play an important role in the future.