Summer 2002

4 litres/100km and Euro 5:How the Ricardo mild hybrid

re-writes the C-sector fuel economy rules

InterviewsWilfried Bocklemann, SkodaThierry Morin, Valeo

New horizonsin powertrainefficiency

New horizonsin powertrainefficiency

4 litres/100km and Euro 5:How the Ricardo mild hybrid

re-writes the C-sector fuel economy rules

InterviewsWilfried Bockelmann, SkodaThierry Morin, Valeo

Case study #30: Create an instrument

cluster that is more advanced than anything

else in its class.

Challenge:How can we design an instrument cluster with all the information a driver needs in one place

for a C-category car?

Solution:By integrating all the vehicle’s data display into the main cluster incorporating an eight-colour

screen that is easily visible to the driver. Not only that, the driver can personalise the display

and it can, for example, remind him of birthdays or appointments. Visteon has also integrated

safety related displays alerting the driver of adverse conditions or if he is exceeding the speed

limit. This advanced technology, which you would normally expect to find only in higher vehicle

categories, was in fact designed by Visteon for the new Fiat Stilo. You may not expect to find an

instrument cluster like this in any other C-category car – but now your customers probably will.

For more information visit:

www.visteon.com

Driver Information Systems

Summer 2002 3Ricardo Quarterly Review

contentsSummer 2002

NEWSIndustry update 4First coast-to-coast crossing of the US by a fuel-cell car; DaimlerChrysler’s new global enginegeneration; Ford raises diesel stakes; GMoverhauls Ford in US productivity; Ricardo chiefexecutive Rodney Westhead hails the successful i-MoGen mild hybrid programme

News from Ricardo 24Diesel Seminar is the first of a series of executivepresentations; expansion plans at the DetroitTechnology Campus; Ricardo Software movesinto Japan; key role for Ricardo in the Queen’sbrand new State Limousine Bentley

FEATURESWhat the future holds 8Technology specialist Jeff Daniels looks aheadto the ideas that will be ruling the roads indecades to come – and finds much to be optimistic about

Technology Roadmap 11Ricardo experts Nick Owen and Peter Browngive their idea of what’s on tomorrow’s automotive agenda

Material gains 22CGI is being hailed as the new wonder-materialfor engines but, as William Kimberley discoversin conversation with Ricardo specialists, there aremany other more radical solutions too

I-MOGEN SPECIALTwo’s company 12Ricardo and Valeo technology directors NevilleJackson and Michel Lifermann talk to JesseCrosse about the ground-breaking collaborationwhich led to the ambitious i-MoGen programme

Project overview 14The key elements which enable Ricardo to meet the 4 litre/100km mild hybrid challenge

Engine downsizing 16The key concept which dramatically boostsengine efficiency

Integrated Starter Alternator 18Valeo develops the heart of the hybrid powertrain

Thermal systems 18Managing heat flow helps minimise parasitic losses

Exhaust aftertreatmant 19Novel strategy provides the best ofboth worlds

Systems Integration 20The patented brain which controls i-MoGen’severy activity

QUESTIONS & ANSWERSProfessor Wilfried Bockelmann 6The man who masterminded Skoda’s technicalrenaissance was recently given responsibility forall future Skodas, VWs and Bentleys. RichardFeast caught up with him in a rare free moment

Thierry Morin 21Taking the helm of i-MoGen partner Valeo at aturbulent time, new Chairman Thierry Morinexplains his novel Domains strategy

6 21

26

4

Ricardo enquiries: UK: +44 (0) 1273 455611USA: +1 (734) 397 6666Germany: +49 (0) 711 806082-20Czech Republic: +42 0296331150

Business development: busdev@ricardo.comHead office: Ricardo plc, Bridge Works,

Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex BN43 5FG, United Kingdom

Conceived and produced for Ricardo by TwoTone Media LtdEditor: Tony Lewin Contributors: Richard Feast, Jeff Daniels, Paul Bale

Anthony Smith, Jesse Crosse, William Kimberley

TwoTone Media Ltd contacts:Anthony Smith AVSmith@2tmedia.comTony Lewin tonylewin@2tmedia.com

4 INDUSTRY NEWS Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly Review

KOREA’S Hyundai is to take the lead in the devel-opment and implementation of a new family ofglobal engines which will power future genera-tions of DaimlerChrysler group vehicles. Up to 1.5million units of the new engine family will be pro-duced annually, making it one of the world’s mostwidely applied engines.

Mitsubishi and Chrysler group are equal part-ners in the Global Engine Alliance joint venture,which will be headquartered in the US but witheach of the companies producing engines locallyfor its own model ranges. The Alliance has statedthat the engine will be a state-of-the-art aluminiumdesign with displacements of between 1.8 and 2.4litres and power outputs ranging between 120 and165 horsepower. It gave no indication of cylinderconfiguration or the types of injection and fuellinglikely to be employed.

The company began operations in May 2002.Initial production of engines is expected byHyundai in March 2004, and Chrysler andMitsubishi output is scheduled to begin the following year. Mercedes-Benz brand passengercars are unlikely to use the new engine.

Clean fuels field trial

A CONSORTIUM of Germancompanies has announced it isto embark on an ambitious real-world trial of clean-energy vehi-cles, including hydrogen-pow-ered fuel cell models.

The programme will be basedin the German capital Berlin andbrings together carmakersDaimlerChrysler, BMW, Ford andOpel, as well as MAN from thetruck side, engineering firmLinde and fuel supplier Aral. Oneof the first moves in the five-yearproject will be the establishmentof a hydrogen filling station inBerlin to serve the fuel cell vehi-cles in the 30-strong test fleet.

The Berlin trial shares severalparallels with the California FuelCell Partnership. However, it alsoacknowledges the importance ofdiesel in Europe by includingother fuels such as syntheticdiesel and methanol in its remit.

In early June the Mercedes-Benz Necar 5 became the firstfuel cell vehicle to complete acoast-to-coast crossing of theUS when it was welcomed intoWashington DC by Senate AutoCaucus Chairmen Carl Levin ofMichigan and George Voinovichof Ohio.

The 3000-mile (5000km) jour-ney is the most demanding so

far undertaken by a fuel cellpowered vehicle, especially asthe itinerary included mountainsand extreme weather conditions.The Necar 5, based on theMercedes A-Class compact, cantravel over 300 miles on a tankof methanol.

“Our goal was to make it toWashington DC to deliver themessage that fuel cell technolo-gy is moving forward, but thatthere is still a much work to do.Whether we made it or not, it iscritical for the development offuel cell technology to try,” saidDr Ferdinand Panik, head ofDaimlerChrysler's fuel cell proj-ect group and outgoing chair-man of the California Fuel CellPartnership.

Meanwhile, President Bushhas reaffirmed his opposition tothe Kyoto treaty and dismissedas ‘bureaucracy’ a new reportinto global warming by the USEPA. The EPA report predictsamong other things that total USgreenhouse gas emissions willincrease 43 per cent between2000 and 2020.

Chrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche said that forChrysler group the project represented the “tangi-ble fruits of the alliance with Mitsubishi andHyundai”, hinting that the ventures like this couldlead to even greater co-operation. The companieshave already agreed to study the possibility of jointproduction of the engine in the NAFTA region inthe immediate future.

At the Vienna Motor Symposium in April, report-ed Automotive News Europe, speakers includingnew Volkswagen CEO Berndt Pischetsriederstressed the influence of developing markets indetermining global engine design policy. Improvedgasoline and diesel engines were realistic and cost-effective alternatives to hybrids, they concluded.

DaimlerChrysler group launchesglobal engine

Mitsubishi Airtrek: Likely homefor new DCX global engine

● in brief

When is a truck not a truck?

This paradoxical question is fast

becoming a headache for automakers

in the US, especially the Big Three.

Light trucks have always enjoyed

much more lenient treatment than

cars under Federal Corporate

Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) rules,

and for many years automakers have

been openly bending the already

flexible definitions to gain

classification for a startling variety of

vehicles as trucks.

So with the NHTSA starting talking

about reclassifying borderline trucks

as cars, the automakers are

beginning to get worried about having

to hit a 27.5 mpg average instead of

just 20.5. At present all pickups and

minivans are classed as trucks, as

are SUVs – and even the Chrysler

PT Cruiser. All that is needed to gain

classification as a truck is one or

more characteristics from the NHTSA

list, which includes four wheel drive, a

flat load floor, removable rear seats

or an open load deck.

London black cab comes clean

at last

What promises to be the cleanest –

as well as smoothest and quietest –

black cab has been developed by

Powertrain Ltd, part of the MG Rover

group. Substituting an LPG-fuelled

version of Rover’s K-Series engine

for the cab’s traditional rattly diesel

has cut NOx by 95 per cent,

particulates by 92 per cent, C02 by 29

per cent and noise by 50 per cent.

The cab will begin service in

Birmingham, but it is hoped that the

initiative – which attracts a

government grant – will soon spread

to London and other cities with black

cab fleets.

Honda’s micro-motor

Honda has developed the world’s

lightest four-stroke motor. Weighing

just 2.8kg, the tiny 25cc GX25

develops 1.25Nm torque at 5000 rpm

and is aimed at the market for hand-

held garden equipment.

The Japanese company has also

come up with a next-generation solar

cell which does not require high-

energy silicon in its manufacture.

Instead, Honda employs copper,

indium, gallium and selenium in a thin

film cell that is easy to produce and

which claims high levels of

photoelectric transfer efficiency.

Industry news

written and edited by Tony Lewin

Summer 2002 INDUSTRY NEWS 5Ricardo Quarterly Review

A message from theChief ExecutiveTHE impact of global warm-ing is perhaps one of thegreatest issues facingmankind at the start of thetwenty-first century. Whilesome question the precisetriggers for the greenhouseprocess, there can be fewwho deny its existence as aphenomenon or question thedire impact that it may have ifit continues unchecked.There is also something of agrowing consensus amongstscientists, environmentalists,engineers and legislators thatreducing emissions of CO2 -particularly from motor vehi-cles – will have a positiveeffect in slowing the processof global warming.

Hydrogen powered com-bustion engines and fuel cellsare held in many quarters asthe panacea that will leadstraight to the goal of zeroCO2 emissions from vehicles.However, to be truly sustain-able and effective in reducingglobal CO2 emissions, thisapproach would require thesynthesis of the hydrogenfuel to be based on renew-able and CO2-neutral sourcesof electrical power generation– something that might beconsidered a long way offgiven the current electricitygenerating mix of most of theindustrialised nations.

While the automotiveindustry must of course pre-pare itself for such long-termchallenges, it is perhaps ofgreater immediate impor-tance for us to explore morepragmatic, near-market andproduction-ready solutions;solutions which aim to pushforward the boundaries offuel efficiency and thus max-imise the amount of energyderived from each gramme ofCO2 released. Completed inearly 2002, the Ricardo mildhybrid demonstration pro-gramme (i-MoGen) is anexcellent example of this typeof development and, as such,

it forms the central focus ofthis specially extended issueof RQ.

Starting from a production2.0-litre diesel Opel Astra car,the i-MoGen engineeringteam have delivered ademonstrator vehicle whichrealises a fuel consumptionimprovement of nearly 30 percent without any loss in per-formance or refinement andwithout compromising theinterior or exterior packagingof the vehicle. I have found itpersonally extremely reward-ing to accompany the i-MoGen team to presenta-tions at a number ofEuropean vehicle manufac-turer locations. The responseof the auto industry execu-tives who have driven thedemonstrator vehicle at theseevents speaks for itself –almost without exception theyhave been highly impressedwith the quality of the driveand the practical and production-ready engineeringsolution that it represents.

Over the coming monthswe will be taking the i-MoGendemonstrator vehicle to ourcustomers in North Americaand Japan. Nevertheless,particularly for those unableto attend one of our presen-tations, I am pleased that wehave been able to producethis special issue of RQ sothat the achievements of theprogramme can be appreciat-ed by a wider audience.

Rodney Westhead

Big diesel raises Ford’s pickup game

GM overtakes Ford in productivityTHE steady advance in produc-tivity of General Motors’ USplants has at last allowed theAmerican giant to overtake Ford,the long standing leader amongthe Big Three, according to the2002 edition of the influentialHarbour report on manufacturingproductivity.

GM’s 4.5 per cent overall gainin plant productivity outpaced allother manufacturers, and itsassembly facilities came bestoverall in six of the 13 assemblyplant categories. GM also hadthe best V8 engine plant, at 4.55hours per engine.

Nevertheless, the Big Threestill have a long way to go tocatch up with, let alone overhaul,the super-efficient Japanesetransplants in North America.Nissan is still top, followed byHonda, Toyota and Mitsubishi.The report, which measures thelabour hours absorbed in theproduction of each vehicle, stillshows the Japanese plants way

ahead: Nissan has an overallhours-per-vehicle figure of17.92, while even with its rapidimprovement shaving some fourhours off its average vehicleassembly time, GM still takes alot longer to do the same job.With labour accounting for some20 per cent of the cost of thevehicle, says Harbour, theJapanese firms are enjoying aprice advantage of between$500 and $700 per vehicle in theshowroom.

GM has also become thebest-performing domesticautomaker in the respected 2002JD Power and Associates InitialQuality Study, which showedvehicle quality at the 90-daymark to have improved 10 percent over the 2001 result. Toyotagroup models topped nine out ofthe 16 categories – a record –but the Chevrolet Malibu andBuick Century took the Entryand Premium Midsize segmentsrespectively.

FORD has upped the stakesin the thrivingUS heavypickup marketwith the adop-tion of Navistar’snew six-litre directinjection PowerStroke V8 by the big-selling F-Series SuperDuty. The engine was firstshown in the mighty F350Tonka concept truck at the DetroitShow in January and, with a rated output of 325 bhp, puts Ford tothe head of a class where power and torque are key selling points.

The rival 6.6 litre General Motors Duramax, designed by Isuzu,gives 300 bhp and has contributed to the strong success of theChevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. The equivalent Chrysler product,the Dodge Ram, features a 305 bhp 5.9 litre straight six diesel fromCummins.

Although the new Power Stroke is a structurally relatively conven-tional all-iron V8 and overhead valve, rather than overhead camshaft inits configuration, it incorporates modern features new to big dieselssuch as direct injection, common rail fuelling and four valves per cylin-der. Also included are EGR and electronic control of turbochargergeometry. Peak power of 325 bhp is produced at 3300 rpm and maxi-mum torque of 525 lb ft (746 Nm) occurs at just 2000 rpm. The engineis mated to a new five-speed TorqShift automatic transmission.

6 INTERVIEW: WILFRIED BOCKELMANN Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly Review

Professor Wilfried Bockelmann was recently put in charge of technicaldevelopment at the Volkswagen group’s newly created ‘conservativedivision’, where he has overall responsibility for future VW, Skoda andBentley products. The development makes him one of the world’s topautomotive engineers.

A career Volkswagen man, Bockelmann joined Skoda board four yearsafter its acquisition by VW in 1991 and was given responsibility fortechnical development. Skoda was then making around 200,000 cars ayear. Today it is a half-a-million producer with an all-new product linewhose quality has transformed Skoda’s once-poor reputation. Shortlybefore taking up his new appointment, Professor Bockelmann talkedto Richard Feast about the metamorphosis of his old firm.

Engineering anastonishing turnaround

What were the highlights for Skoda sinceit came under Volkswagen’s ownership?I guess we have three areas where youcould say it was crucial. Let me compareSkoda with the other Eastern Bloc manufac-turers. In the old times, behind the IronCurtain, Skoda was always the technologyleader. If you compare a Skoda at that timewith a Trabant or Wartburg with their two-stroke engines, it was the high class car. Sowe already had a very high image in thatregion, because we used to be the high-techmanufacturer. This was completely differentto Britain or the rest of Western Europe,where Skoda was known as the cheap car.

There was a tradition and there were engi-neers [at Skoda] who were capable ofmaking cars – if you let them. That was notalways the case in the socialist times. Up tothe mid-1960s, Skoda still had good cars.Look at the old Felicia, the convertible, theold Octavia. Then came the rear-enginedera, and the whole thing broke down, basi-cally because they had no money to invest.

You need to spend a lot of money todevelop a new car, to invest in new produc-tion technologies for a new car. And if youwere in a socialist area, you had no money.At that time, maybe you could compareSkoda with companies like Polski-Fiat, withLada. Now you can’t.

Then, if you think of mergers like Daimlerwith Chrysler, how could you imagine a smallcompany like Skoda could survive without[such synergies]? There’s no chance. We hadgood engineers, and we could maybe devel-op a new gasoline engine and a new manualgearbox, but where do we get the diesels?Where do we get the automatic gearboxes?Where do we get all the ABS systems? Forexample, before Volvo joined the PremierAutomotive Group, they bought their dieselengines from outside – and Volvo had moremoney. With a limited number of developmentengineers, you can’t do everything. You haveto buy some things from outside.

And that was the help [to Skoda] of theVW group. Then you could buy from insidethe group. You know, access to automaticgearboxes, the best diesel engines in theworld, technologies, processes and plat-forms. That helps a lot. Without the VWstrategy, there was no chance to survive.

Have you ever added up how much VWhas invested in Skoda?Yes, there are numbers, but you cannot saywhat VW has invested in Skoda. I know ifVW hadn’t been there, we [Skoda] wouldhave had no chance to invest. In the pastfour or five years, we have invested roughly10 per cent of our turnover, which is very

much higher than the average. Typically, youhave four, five, maybe six per cent. We havealways had two-digit numbers.

That’s because we had to do everythingfrom new. New paint shop. New press shop,New production assembly plant. That’s allnew (at Mlada Boleslav). We call it thebrownfield, because you can use some ofthe buildings.

Some of the production output is used bythe VW group, presumably?Some, but not very much. We are still build-ing up our company in several areas. Forexample, we invested in an engine and gear-box plant. The gearboxes started at thebeginning of 2001, and we supply them tothe group. The engine plant has just startedwith components, so we make blocks andheads, con rods. Complete assembly startsthis year, so we are now supplying theseparts to other parts of VW, where they areassembled as real engines. We have acapacity of 500,000 engines and gearboxesa year.

Does that make Mlada Boleslav a 500,000cars a year unit?Yes, Skoda is [a half-milliion unit]. MladaBoleslav makes most of the cars, all of theengines, all of the gearboxes, but not every

Summer 2002 INTERVIEW: WILFRIED BOCKELMANN 7Ricardo Quarterly Review

car. We have three plants producing cars –Kvasiny, Vrchlabi and Mlada Boleslav.

Vrchlabi does every speciality version ofthe Octavia, for example. Every 4x4, the RS,most of the Laurin & Klements – the specialthings that disturb the big line. Kvasiny doesthe Superb. We have a completely new paintshop there, a new assembly line and bodywelding line. They do some of the Fabias[sedan versions], so we have some balance.Mlada Boleslav does everything else.

How many vehicles did you sell last year?Roughly 462,000. The previous year we hadabout 450,000.

It sounds as though Skoda is reachingthe limits of its manufacturing capacity?I have a different point of view. You need aminimum sales volume to be a complete carmanufacturer. If you do not sell more than500,000 you are always very flimsy. You willnot stand the storms and showers and soon. You need a certain volume. Otherwise,you must be a high-image maker, likePorsche or Ferrari. But if you are a volumemanufacturer – as Skoda is – then you needa certain minimum output of cars, and that is500,000. Look around the world, and yousee lots of companies on that volume.

Then you can lean back and say, What arewe doing? Do we need a million? No. Wehave reached this crucial point now.

Is it now a matter of debate about whereSkoda goes from here?Now it’s a matter of quality of money. Now, ifwe have a certain volume of manufacturing,then we have to decide. Do we have to go toLiberia? Is there a better market than that? Isit better, for example, to increase in GreatBritain instead of going to South America?

What are the answers?Britain.

Does that mean Skoda willremain an essentially Europeanphenomenon?Not really. We are intercontinen-tal, but we are not a global player.

Where else in the world canone buy a Skoda?To the east side, we are thespearhead of the VW group.

In Asia?No. We do not go to Japan.China is where we sell a little bit,but that is the home country ofVW. In India, for example, wehave started assembly. We arethe biggest importer in Russia.Poland, we are No.1 in the VWgroup. So, if you look to central

and eastern Europe, there we have a verystrong foothold. This was typically Skoda,even before VW.

So, if you can make a better profit in theUK or Germany, forget Paraguay?Something like that. We are not pressingcars into Paraguay just to reach volume. Ifyou have reached this crucial point[500,000], then you can say, okay, now wecan decide for the quality of the sales.

At 500,000, do you make VW’s target of6.5 per cent return on sales?No, because we have lots of trouble with thevalue of the crown. The crown is very muchover-valued because the euro is so weak. Youknow in Britain what happens. It’s the samestory. We have a very strong crown. That’sour problem. We are exporting, so we getfewer crowns for the cars we sell in Europe atpresent. There we are suffering right now. Weare not losing money, but we are not earningthe money we would like to have.

The crown is very stable and very hard.The typical small company (in the CzechRepublic) is going bankrupt because it can’tcompete with Poland, with Croatia and so onbecause the crown is priced so high. If yousell to the EU countries, you have this 10 percent penalty.

In five years’ time, presumably the CzechRepublic will be a member of the EU?Yes, I would say so.

What about Skoda as a company?500,000 to 600,000 a year. A model rangebasically [the same as] what we have now.The big change is done.

So it’s a question of changing the qualityof the sales?Yes. And of the engineering and of produc-tion. We have to keep the model range thatwe have modern. We have to change theOctavia some time, but I don’t think we willhave another model range, and not the typeof sales explosion of the past decade. DrPiech [former VW group chairman], becausehe was engine-driven, always asked me:“why aren’t you putting six-cylinder enginesinto the Octavia?” We could have done thatthree years ago. My typical answer was,”let’s not run faster than the customer canfollow us.”

That was the point on which I convincedhim. We don’t have six cylinders in theOctavia. That’s why we don’t have eightcylinders in the Superb.

When I did my first drive in a Skoda, I wasdriving the biggest, most powerful, most lux-urious car [in the range], from MladaBoleslav to Ingolstadt. Do you remember atthat time, in June 1995, what was thebiggest, fastest, most luxurious car fromSkoda? It was the newly launched Felicia.There was no Felicia Combi [wagon]. It hada 1.3-litre 68 horsepower engine, withpushrods, because the 75 horsepower 1.6-litre came later. Without air conditioning andwithout power steering.

That was seven years ago. Now peopleask,”why has the Superb not got an eightcylinder engine?” We would be running toofast for the customers. You could [always] say ‘No’ to Piech if you had [the right] argu-ments. ■

Richard Feast is an international automotive commentator and a contributor to Automotive News Europe

8 INTO THE FUTURE Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly Review

exhaust emission control, and an equallycomplex series of interlinked features toimprove passive safety. And eventually, hewould come to appreciate how far electron-ics had come to influence so much of whathappens inside the modern car.

Yet if you had asked some young enthusi-ast of 1952 to predict what the 2002 carwould be like, his answers would surely havebeen much more exciting and far-reaching: acar which could take off and fly when neces-sary, or equipped with a nuclear power unitsuch as the Ford Nucleon concept car of1958. So when this now old enthusiast of2002 tries to look ahead, he does so with alot more caution – and also with the benefitof being able to look back over 50 years ofcontinuous evolution. This gives me anadvantage over the 1952 crystal-gazer,whose rearward perspective – reaching backto some extremely crude cars, of course,close to the very dawn of motoring – includ-ed the discontinuities of two World Wars,

one of them still recent, both of whichstalled the smooth course of motor car

evolution for years.

Starting pointsIf the typical modern car provides one start-ing point, others are provided by the anxi-eties of our modern age. The future of thecar is clouded, in many eyes, by sheer trafficcongestion – what is the point of owning acar if it takes you ages to drive it anywhere?– and the related questions of greenhouseemissions and the inevitable exhaustion ofcrude oil reserves. In fifty years’ time, bymost reckoning, the oil may not have run outbut will certainly have become much scarcerand more expensive. What does that implyfor the future car?

If it is to survive – and I’m sure it will – thecar will have to come up with answers tothose questions. Probably the clearest con-clusion is that cars will use much less ener-gy. We have already seen it happen. Today’sengines are not only cleaner, they are moreeconomical. Europe’s car manufacturershave undertaken to bring their fleet averageCO2 emissions down to 140g/km by 2008,and the process is not going to stop there.The last few years have seen new technolo-gies evolve for both gasoline and dieselengines – direct injection for both, common-rail systems for diesels, developments likeBMW’s Valvetronic for gasoline engines.

Nor is there any sign of this developmentstream drying up. Twenty years ago one mighthave looked at any of them and reckoned ittoo expensive and complicated ever to reachproduction. Today any development whichpromises to reduce CO2 emissions and energyconsumption is a potential runner. Waiting inthe wings we have the camless engine, withvalves individually operated under electroniccontrol; we have variable compression ratio;we have further advances in mixture prepara-

Motoring into the Future

The temptation when predicting thefuture of the motor car is to overdo it.The truth is that if you look back from

2002 to the motor car of 50 years ago, toAlec Issigonis’ British motoring icon theMorris Minor, for example, you find no greatfundamental change.

An engineer would probably walk aroundthe Minor and, say, a 2002 Ford Focus, andlist the major changes: a body with a hatch-back, unheard-of in 1952; a shift from rear tofront-wheel drive, from live rear axle to inde-pendent rear suspension, from cross-ply toradial-ply tyres; the engine itself with twinoverhead camshafts instead of one sidecamshaft and pushrods to overhead valves(even by 1952, the Minor had abandoned itsoriginal side-valve engine in favour of thefirst A-series).

Given a little more time to explore indepth, the engineer would also point to the2002 car having a complex and highly effec-tive system of

The future, as they say, isn’t what itused to be. Armed with a fewsobering reflections on the accuracyof past predictions, technologyspecialist Jeff Danielsmakes some fascinatingpredictions about thenext half-century ofautomotiveevolution

The futureas we used to

see it: the 1958Nucleon was an atom

powered concept (left), while the 1959 Levicar Mach 1 expected

to take to the air to avoid traffic jams

Summer 2002 INTO THE FUTURE 9

tion and the direct sensing of real-time condi-tions inside the combustion chamber. Once itwould have been a brave engineer who pre-dicted such things would ever find productionapplication: today it is braver (not to sayunwise) to predict they will not.

Some of these developments, especiallythe camless engine, will be made practicalby a revolution which is almost upon us – achange from 14V to 42V electrical systems,making practical the idea of automaticengine stop-start operation in heavy traffic,and enabling things like valve-actuating sole-noids to be made sufficiently powerful andfar more compact. The voltage step-up willequally enable concepts like brake by wireand steer by wire, with electrical linkagesreplacing mechanical ones. Such moves maysound rather alarming at first, but the signalspassing along electrical linkages can beshaped and tuned far more easily to producesafe and progressive response. This, surely,is the path to the chassis of the future.

As for the transmission, it rather dependshow you view the future. Ultra-efficient inter-nal combustion engines demand gearboxesthat will not squander hard-won economy. Inthis connection some of the robotised manual transmissions now emerging inEurope, fulfilling at last with the aid ofelectronics the 1920s dream of reproducingthe actions of the most skilled of drivers inclutch and gearchange operation, are wellworth a look and a side-bet for the small carmarket at least. Luxury cars will continue todepend on the traditional automatic, with the CVT slowly winning more friends as engineers learn how to make best use of it.

All this, however, depends on the growth(or otherwise) of other trends. It may well bethat the car of the future will use electrictraction, and thus will need no clutch, andprobably no gearbox, at all. By electric trac-tion I do not mean battery-powered vehicles,which have now been written-off by seriousengineers for the saddest and most conclu-sive of reasons: the batteries cost too muchand do not last long enough, and much hardwork over the last 20 years has scarcelydented this drawback. Instead we may findourselves driving cars in which the electricpower comes either from an internal com-bustion engine driving an efficient high-volt-age generator – the so-called hybrid – orfrom a fuel cell, that pinnacle of future promise, the device which electro-chemically combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce nothing but electric power and water.

Ricardo Quarterly Review

Fuel cell questionsMost motor industry engineers now assumethat in the long term, say by 2050, nearly allnew cars will be powered by fuel cells. Somedo not agree: BMW in particular still insiststhe better option is to retain the internal com-bustion engine but switch over to running iton hydrogen. But the fuel cell is the favouredsolution of most, and so far it has justifiedtheir confidence with a speed of develop-ment which the battery lobby has long sincegiven up hoping for. However, fulfilling thepromise needs answers to at least two diffi-cult questions. The first is how get from hereto there, so to speak; how we move from anindustry building millions of internal combus-tion engines every year, to one which buildsan even larger number of fuel cell powerunits per year – bearing in mind that a fuelcell power unit consists not only of the cellstack, but all the peripheral units needed tomake it operate. The second question, quitesimply, is which fuel we use.

Ultimately, the answer to the second ques-tion is hydrogen – because at some stagethe supply of fossil hydrocarbon fuel willindeed run out. But there is no hydrogen

‘In the longer term

there is another

argument in favour

of the hybrid. It may

form a convenient

stepping-stone to

fuel cell vehicles’

The British 1950s equivalent of today’sFord Focus was the Morris Minor (right).The basic mechanical principles may be

similar but the modern car hasperformance, refinement and safety

unheard of even ten years ago

supply infrastructure, nor the ability to makeeither ultra-high-pressure gas storage tanksor super-insulated liquid hydrogen tanks inthe numbers the industry will eventuallyrequire. So, in the meantime, do we feed fuelcell cars with a liquid fuel – petroleum oralcohol based – and reform it to extract thehydrogen? So long as the hydrocarbons arethere, this makes more sense in that it iseasier, and the infrastructure already exists.

Brit

ish

Mot

or I

ndus

try

Her

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Tru

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ve

Thus it would make the introduction of fuelcell cars that much easier. In the end, how-ever, we have to address the hydrogen ques-tion because unless we go to the trouble ofsynthesising liquid hydrocarbon fuel, or takea development path into biomass derivedalcohols and natural gas, there will be noalternative – and at least we shall havearrived at a situation where we have takenthe carbon out of the vehicle-fuelling processaltogether. Just how we make enough hydro-gen is another matter: for the time being itseems that we shall have to use large-scaleelectrolysis using electric power from renew-able resources. That in itself is a major challenge but eventually the answers will be found, out of necessity.

A hybrid bridge?The hybrid internal combustion/electric vehi-cle sits in the middle of all these arguments.Not so very long ago, the most frequent argu-ment was that hybrids would never see pro-duction because they would always be tooexpensive, needing more (and more expen-sive) components than a car with a conven-tional transmission. This remains largely true,although ingenious ways have been found ofwhittling away the cost. Yet we have seen twohybrid cars, the Honda Insight and the ToyotaPrius, enter at least limited production, andmore are planned for the near future.

The argument which has begun tipping thebalance in the hybrid’s favour is efficiency,thus lower fuel consumption and very lowexhaust emissions. In a hybrid car, not onlycan you make the internal combustionengine more efficient – and run it mainly atits most efficient load point – but you canalso manage the use of energy, reclaiming itwhen braking or running downhill, feeding itback from a storage battery (with other,lighter, highly efficient energy storagedevices such as capacitor banks on the horizon) when accelerating or climbing hills.

It is this aspect of the hybrid which hassuddenly awakened great interest in a seem-ingly unlikely product area – that of the hugeand heavy SUVs and light trucks (many ofwhich serve in fact as personal transport) inthe USA. Consumers in that market likethese vehicles simply because they are sobig, high and spacious, but they consumefuel at a frightening rate to European eyes.Frightening also to Americans, whenever fuelprices rise sharply, and worrying whendebate turns to whether these vehiclesshould be included in passenger car CAFEfuel consumption limits.

One solution is to make such vehiclesmuch more fuel efficient by adopting hybridtechnology. The most widely studiedapproach, and one which is likely to see pro-duction very soon, is to leave the internalcombustion engine driving one pair ofwheels, while installing an electric drivetrain

to the other pair. Much then depends on theway the system is controlled overall, some-thing which has been the subject of closestudy; but the economy and emissions bene-fits can be considerable, especially if theinternal combustion engine is downsized,allowing for the ability of the electric drive-train to maintain the same level of perform-ance when required. One positive point isthat the extra weight of the electrical systemcomponents is barely significant in vehicleswhich can weigh up to three tonnes in conventional internal combustion form.

While hybrid technology has its part toplay in enabling North America to achievebetter fuel efficiency, it is clearly also attrac-tive in Europe where fuel costs (including aheavy tax element) are so high. You mayhave to pay more for the vehicle to beginwith, but its substantially better economybegins to make up the difference the firsttime you fill the tank. Therefore we canexpect to see more hybrids in the majorEuropean markets.

In the longer term, though, there is anoth-er argument in favour of the hybrid. It mayform a convenient stepping-stone to fuel cellvehicles. In principle, if you have a parallelhybrid – one in which the drive can be entire-ly electric, with no connection between theengine and the wheels – you can wait untilyou have developed a satisfactory fuel cellpackage and use this to substitute for theinternal combustion engine. Certainly this isa simplistic way of looking at things: in prac-tice, a great deal of work would need to bedone in the systems integration and controlareas. But from the consumer’s point of view,what would be the difference between aninternal combustion engine based hybrid withan electric drivetrain, and one powered by a

fuel cell stack? There would be one differ-ence, certainly: the ability to draw near-silent, non-polluting electric power from thefuel cell for as long as the fuel lasted.Imagine the difference that might make to acamping expedition – something which isalready being pitched as a major advantagein the American market.

Thus we may proceed, over a period ofmany years, from cars powered by essential-ly conventional but ever more efficient drive-trains, through internal combustion hybrids,and eventually to hydrogen-consuming fuelcell vehicles. However, there is still that otherchallenge to overcome: the nightmare sce-nario of a motoring world brought to a stopby congestion. The engineers have answersfor this too. The truth is that even in crowdednorthern Europe and Japan, there is enoughroad space for everyone. The problems arisewhen too many people try to use a fewstrategic stretches of road at the same time.

Eventually the answer will be provided bysystems which will be able to advise driversof the best route to take, and indeed the bestspeed at which to drive, in order to reachtheir destinations smoothly, safely and with-out conflict in the sense of jostling for pos-session of the same ten square metres ofroad space. Full implementation will involvesome interesting concepts: vehicles runningon main roads in close convoy, and cross-roads where vehicles will be electronicallyshepherded through without stopping.

The problem with road space today is not alack of it, but rather that we use it withhideous lack of efficiency. Future vehicles willbe equipped to overcome that deficiency, justas they will be provided with drivetrains thatenable them to complete journeys consumingamazingly small amounts of energy. It maynot sound much fun to today’s enthusiasts,but by 2050 our descendants may view it differently – and confine their “fun” motoringactivities to driving internal combustion enginepowered cars on closed tracks, just as steamrailway buffs today exercise their beloved,beautiful but anachronistic machinery. ■

10 INTO THE FUTURE Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly Review

The Honda Insight (above), together with the Toyota Prius, are the

world’s only production hybrids; Toyotahas built over 100,000

Heavy SUVs have

awakened great

interest in hybrid

powertrains

Summer 2002 INTO THE FUTURE 11Ricardo Quarterly Review

Jeff Daniels provides a useful and thought-provoking view of the future of the car,

and emphasises the importance of examin-ing past changes as a sanity check to tem-per any future predictions. We would per-haps make a few additions to the observa-tions of Jeff’s imaginary 1952 engineer: firstand foremost if he or she stepped into a cur-rent production car and drove it, the biggestsurprise of all would be the improvements inperformance and refinement. In addition tothis, the advances in both electronics andsafety equipment in the last 50 years – andtheir highly accessible cost – would be trulyamazing.

Naturally for Ricardo it is imperative thatwe have a view of the future direction ofautomotive technology so that we can bringthe requisite expert knowledge and resourceto our customers’ programmes. We put significant resource into developing ourTechnology Roadmaps: this is important insteering the future direction of our researchand development efforts, of which the i-MoGen programme featured in this issue ofRQ is just one example. The major drivers forchange are CO2, safety and road congestion.

There are significant global differences inthe perceived importance of CO2 reduction,which is difficult to equate to global compo-nent commonality. Many CO2 -reducing tech-nologies have a cost associated with them,and the acceptable level of cost per unit

benefit differs regionally. When looking at theimpact of new technologies on CO2 emis-sions it is vital to consider their respective‘well-to-wheels’ impact. Daniels rightly pointsout the technical challenges of hydrogentransportation and storage, but there is in ourview a more fundamental concern. In simpleterms, the hydrogen has to come from some-where. A fuel cell vehicle using hydrogenmade from existing hydrocarbon fuels is notso attractive on the well-to-wheels metric.The emergence of the so-called hydrogeneconomy, based on large-scale generation ofelectrical power from completely renewablesources, is perhaps the most significantobstacle to the mass take-up of hydrogenfuel cell vehicles: it is certainly more of achallenge than the engineering of the fuelcell vehicles themselves. As such, we see anincreasing number of fuel cell demonstratorvehicles in the coming years for the purpos-es of technological development, but fewproducts, if any, reaching commerciallyviable volumes within the next ten to twentyyears.

The hybrid is the most pragmatic automo-tive powertrain solution for this time frame asit enables the stepwise approach to sustain-ability which Daniels describes. In effect thisform of powertrain attempts to squeeze themaximum fuel efficiency out of the combus-tion engine – whatever its fuel – through optimising and managing the internal energy

flows of the vehicle. Less well understood isthe way in which hybridisation also enablessignificant engine downsizing without sacri-ficing the driveability of a larger unit; thisdelivers the most significant economy gain inthe case of ‘mild’ hybrids such as i-MoGen.Systems integration and sophisticated super-visory control are the key to a good hybridpowertrain, especially when future elementsof the system, like advanced boosting sys-tems, feedback combustion control and dual-clutch transmissions are so ideal for controlintegration.

And it is integrated control which offers theanswer to our other drivers, safety and theavoidance of congestion. In the absence ofcontinual new road building, the alternativesseem to fall into two categories – road pric-ing to discourage travel at times of conges-tion, and telematics-based technologiesaimed at improving the utilisation of roadspace. If vehicles are within themselvesalready rich in highly networked electronics,it seems reasonable that with the advent ofnew telecoms developments this networkingcould be extended externally, enabling thevehicle to communicate with the outsideworld for everything from fault diagnosis and maintenance management to route planning, congestion avoidance and on-board entertainments.

This type of whole-vehicle supervisorycontrol will also be at the heart of a newgeneration of so-called ‘X-by-wire’ technolo-gies, in which steering, braking, torque vec-toring and other driving functions will firstbecome electronically linked to the standarddriver inputs, then progressively influencedby intervention strategies to make drivingeasier and to avert disasters. And here couldbe the big change for the car of 2052: whilethe Morris Minor and Ford Focus both have asteering wheel and three pedals, it is entirelypossible that the car of 2052 will require nomore control input than the words “take mehome”. Despite being car enthusiasts, we atRicardo think that type of capability has agreat deal of real world appeal. It certainlyisn’t just wishful thinking. ■

Nick Owen is Manager of the TechnologyDepartment at Ricardo Consulting Engineers Ltd, Shoreham

Peter Brown is Vice President, PowertrainProjects & Design Engineering at Ricardo Inc, Detroit

The Ricardo viewNick Owen and Peter Brown provide their perspective

Ricardo well-to-wheels analysis of CO2

emissions shows diesel hybrid as thebest performer – undercutting even thefuel cell running on hydrogen producedfrom non-renewable sources

In more than 100 years of automotivedevelopment it is unlikely that the indus-try has ever been under greater pressure

than it faces today. That pressure is not onlyto push sales up and costs down, but alsoto bring down both fuel consumption andemissions.

All this pressure is being brought to bearfrom a number of different directions. In theUS, toxic emissions dominate the agenda,while in Europe CO2 has become equallyimportant. Fuel price in both Europe and theUS has become a major issue for consumersand businesses, both directly at the pumpand, in some places, indirectly through carbon taxation.

Against that background and the recogni-tion that ‘miracle cures’ like the fuel cell arestill a long way off, Ricardo and Valeo, two ofthe industry’s biggest names, decided topool their very different skills and collaborateon a project which could have far-reachingimplications in the field of both emissionsand fuel consumption. When, in 2000, workstarted on the mild hybrid, high economydemonstrator programme (i-MoGen), it didso without the backing of a car maker, butinstead was completely self-funded by thetwo partners.

The i-MoGen project was started in recog-nition of the fact that providing a concept isnot always enough. “Ricardo doesn’t manu-facture anything, apart from some specialisedtransmissions,” explains technology director,Neville Jackson. “We go to a customer andoffer them a new concept but we’re not offer-ing them a product. If we have a collabora-tion, as we now have with Valeo, we have aroute to manufacturing and we can say, ‘hereis a real product,’ a complete delivered sys-tem and not just a concept.”

ing the gospel according to simulation, yetthis is no contradiction. “Our overall philoso-phy is to move more to virtual powertrainand virtual vehicle. Our approach is to identi-fy the right concept and to prove the con-cept; not to build 15 different concepts first.”

Ricardo and Valeo fitted together neatlylike two pieces in a jigsaw, each party’s skillscomplementing the other. “The idea of col-laboration is not new,” says MichelLifermann, who is Valeo’s transversal vehicleprojects director, corporate R&D. “But this isthe first time we have done something likethis on such a wide basis; a multi-branch col-laboration involving a partner to reallyenhance our systems expertise. And ourfuture does rely on being able to developsystems rather than individual components.

12 CO-OPERATION Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly Review

Joined-upthinking

i-MoGen was born out of a natural synergybetween two specialists whose abilities are socomplementary it would have seemed almostsacrilegious not to have brought them togeth-er. “We were all aware of the growth in powerelectronics,” recalls Jackson, “and the efficien-cies of electric motors outside of the automo-tive industry. The Ricardo point of view wasthat combining the best features of powerelectronic engineering with our ICE technolo-gy looked interesting. The main question waswhether we could combine the technologiesto arrive at a powertrain that was better thanthe sum of the parts.”

“We have a big drive at Ricardo for systemengineering,” Jackson continues. “How do youput subsystems together to make them workbetter as a whole? And how do we combinetechnologies to show significant benefits infuel economy and in performance, by takingwhat is essentially a cost effective route?Ricardo has worked extensively on downsiz-ing engines but there are problems in doingthat. Specifically, you can have a small enginewith high power, but its driveability is compro-mised by the lack of low-speed torque. Bycombining it with an electrical machine youcan overcome those handicaps.”

But i-MoGen goes much further than sim-ply investigating the viability of a concept.Despite the undoubted value of simulation,there comes a point in some circumstanceswhere a project needs to be taken to a moreadvanced stage. “The implementation ofadvanced control systems is very different tothe simulation, “Jackson continues.“Hardware implementation is the real chal-lenge. Understanding communications sys-tems, CAN issues, the kinds of day-to-daythings that can cause real problems in prac-tice.” Ricardo is of course known for preach-

The Ricardo-Valeo i-MoGen programme to develop a mild hybrid powertrain for mainstreamvehicles marks a new era in collaborationbetween leading industry players. MichelLifermann of Valeo and Neville Jackson ofRicardo talk to Jesse Crosse about the synergieswhich have allowed their two companies to showthe auto industry the way forward ‘Our overall

philosophy is to

move more to

virtual powertrain

and virtual vehicle.

Our approach is to

identify the right

concept and to

prove the concept;

not to build 15

different concepts

first.’Neville Jackson, Ricardo

Summer 2002 CO-OPERATION 13

In this case, we felt we had a really excep-tional opportunity to integrate our systemsin an advanced powertrain technology, andwe have learned a lot of lessons. All thedeliverables, evaluations and test perform-ances of the demonstrator are available to usand we will use them to further develop ourfuture technologies related to powertrain.”

When it comes to fighting emissions andfuel consumption, the industry as a whole iswell aware of the plethora of technologiesavailable to it. But choosing the right courseof action is not so easy. “My view is that automakers are working very hard to improve fueleconomy and they see that as a major chal-lenge,” says Jackson. “The big question is,what strategy to follow? Which technology toemploy? What is the most cost-effectiveroute? There are many choices to be madewith many combinations of technologies, andit is a difficult time for technology planning.What we’re trying to do is provide a leadinglight and we think i-MoGen is a goodapproach to take for the most cost-effectiveeconomy improvements.”

“Also OEMs have to focus their resources,”adds Lifermann, “and [they] cannot exploreall the solutions and combinations by them-selves. They appreciate that large engineer-ing concerns like Ricardo and Valeo havetheir own individual research activities andare able to propose solutions.” But howeverlimited an OEM’s resources, in most casesthey are still substantial and there is a dan-ger for anyone contemplating a self-fundedprogramme that a potential customer mightprefer to develop its own solution. “It is apoint,” says Jackson, “and one we needed toaddress before we made this investment.Ricardo is a people business. It’s about the

Ricardo Quarterly Review

engineers we have. One of the reasons wedo R&D is to actually investigate future tech-nologies that we think will be important tothe industry. But then we have to train ourpeople to be able to offer those technologiesto customers.”

“We decided to join the programme,” addsLifermann, “because we thought the car man-ufacturers would appreciate this initiative andrecognise Valeo’s track record in systemsresponsibility. The first customer demonstra-tions have already proven that this was asound choice.” So given that both partnershad the soundest of reasons for both collabo-ration and also for self-funding a major proj-ect like this one, why a C-segment car andwhy a diesel? “We didn’t want to offer a nichevehicle but wanted a mass market vehicle,”explains Jackson. “And C-D segment carsdominate the mass market. The C-segmentwas chosen ultimately, because we hadalready developed a downsized, 1.2-litreengine that would be particularly applicableto that class of 1200kg-1300kg vehicle, andproduced the right kind of power for goodperformance. We also had a proposal to do asix-cylinder 1.8 litre version for a C/D-seg-ment vehicle designed to improve the percep-tion of diesel engines in that sector of themarket. In the end, we decided on the smallervehicle because it was more cost-effective.”

But while the i-MoGen demonstrator incor-porates a diesel engine, gasoline could bejust as appropriate in markets outsideEurope – and almost as effective. “The stan-dard HSDI engine emits about 25 per centless CO2 than a stoichiometric, MPI gasoline

engine. What we’ve done throughdownsizing and mild hybridisation is toimprove HSDI CO2 emissions by 30 to35 per cent. You could also take aboosted downsized gasoline engine,using similar hybridisation to i-MoGen,and deliver a very driveable vehiclewith similar CO2 emissions to a conven-tional diesel vehicle. A downsizedgasoline engine of this type wouldhave a particular advantage in the US where NOx from a diesel enginepresents more of a problem.”

In more radical technologies, like fuelcells, the potential for a change in fun-damental vehicle architecture is veryreal but, contends Lifermann, i-MoGendeliberately sets out to achieve theopposite. “We concentrate on systemswhich can be installed in the classicallayout. We want to improve the per-formance, with proven technologieswhich will also allow to keep a highlevel of standardisation in order to control cost.”

Flexibility of packaging is key, agreesJackson. “It’s important the manufac-turer can offer a vehicle with the option

of a standard powertrain or the hybrid pow-ertrain.” System costs remain an importantpart of the equation. “Although i-MoGen hasan additional battery pack and related con-trol systems, a primary objective was to min-imise the battery size from a weight and costperspective; even so the battery remains thesingle most expensive part of the system.”

Both partners have found the collaborationto be a rewarding one and although it hasprincipally been a relationship between thetwo companies, Jackson sees no reasonwhy, in theory, such arrangements should notbe extended if necessary. “On this particularproject the partnership is between Valeo andRicardo,” he explains. “But in my view thereis no limit to the number of partners you canhave in order to deliver the product to thecustomer. The issues are how you manageit, how you control it and how you direct it.”

Lifermann agrees that successful collabo-ration is as much about how you do it, aswhat you do. “One of the partners must beselected to take the lead as the integrator.”

“Yes,” agrees Jackson. “In this caseRicardo is the integrator for the total vehicle.But, for instance, Valeo will have responsibili-ty for some of the systems while Ricardo willtake responsibility for others. The project isorganised to deliver the whole vehicle as aseries of sub-systems and each sub-systemmay in turn contain many components. If twoor more companies are involved, one ofthem has to be nominated to pull the wholething together.”

Both the partners are confident that hybridi-sation of mass market vehicles is the way to

‘With i-MoGen we felt we

had a really exceptional

opportunity to integrate

our systems in an

advanced powertrain

technology, and we have

learned a lot of lessons.

All the deliverables,

evaluations and test

performances of the

demonstrator are

available to us.’Michel Lifermann, Valeo

The i-MoGen mission

14 CO-OPERATION Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly Review

go. With CAFE regu-lations tightening inthe US and manu-facturers alreadytaking steps to dra-matically improvefuel consumption ona global scale, thetiming has neverbeen better.

“Obviously fuel prices will carry on rising,”says Jackson, who believes energy secu-rity will also play a part in driving fuel con-sumption down. Of the US, he says, “evenif the prices remain low, the pressure willcome from the US government and fromauto manufacturers who want to be seento be taking a responsible view.”

But Jackson insists niche vehicles arenot the way forward when it comes toreducing fleet aver-ages. “Niche vehi-cles do not have animpact on fleet aver-age fuel economy –full stop. If you wantto have an impacton fleet averages,you have to intro-duce product to themass market. Youcannot provide a 2-litre car that seatsthree people because no one will buy it.”Despite the high profile of hybrids like theHonda Insight and Toyota Prius, Jacksonstill believes that mass market applica-tions will be drip fed into the market.

“The hybrid will not become part ofsome big revolution,” he says. “It’s goingto be an evolutionary process with smalllevels of battery capacity and stop-start.It’s going to move towards motor-assistsystems still driven by a belt and then fit-ted to the crankshaft as the manufactur-ing structure evolves, the investmentcomes and we get the integrity we wantfrom the electronic systems. It’s one thingdoing a prototype vehicle but it’s anotherto lay down the investment to build several hundred thousand units a yearwith the level of durability and reliabilitywhich modern vehicles demand.”

And as that evolution takes place,Ricardo and Valeo will be ready and wait-ing with a unique proposition, the abilityto deliver a fully developed and pack-aged, hybridised powertrain capable ofsubstantially reducing the fuel consump-tion and emissions on a series productionvehicle. Not so much a miracle cure but,in the context of current automotive andenvironmental trends, one which is per-haps even more convincing. ■

Jesse Crosse is editor of AutomotiveEnvironment Analyst

THE CHALLENGETo use a mild hybridisation systems approach todevelop a C-segment car capable of achieving 4.0 litres/100km over the complete NEDC, as well as halfEuro 4 emissions – yet maintaining the driveabilitycharacteristics of a modern 2.0 litre diesel

THE DESIGNThe combination of a downsized 1.2 litre diesel engineand flywheel mounted electric motor/generator with anadvanced 42 volt electric system with minimisedbattery mass and a Ricardo supervisory controlsystem. In addition, 42 volt ancillaries and 42 volt airconditioning allow the removal of the engine’s front endaccessory drive

THE RESULTAn Opel Astra with uncompromised five-seataccommodation, handling and driveability, yet achieving3.98 litres/100km NEDC economy and capable of thetailpipe emission targets of half 2005 Euro 4 standards

Over the next seven pages we interview keyRicardo and Valeo engineers about theremarkable achievement this mild hybriddemonstrator represents

Summer 2002 I-MOGEN: PROJECT OVERVIEW 15

PROJECT OVERVIEWInterview with Richard Gordon,i-MoGen programme chief engineer,Ricardo

What in your view is the most importantoverall achievement of the i-MoGen

programme?The biggest achievement is to have shown a 28per cent reduction in fuel consumption whilstretaining the same driveability as the original car. Itis very easy to reduce the fuel consumption ofvehicles, but you invariably also reduce how nicethey are to drive, how well they accelerate andhow they feel on the road. We’ve beaten this.

So does i-MoGen feel exactly like an ordinarycar to drive?Yes. Of the hundred people that have driven it sofar, about 80 said exactly that. They said that ifthey had not been told, they would have thoughtthat it was a much bigger engine. The other 20 percent were more used to things like V8 luxurysedans rather than diesels. That feedback hasbeen useful, as has the response to the stop andgo strategy.

And how about the engine itself?The engine is very special. It’s 1.2 litres, deliveringthe same peak power and peak torque as the 2-litre [Opel] engine – and this has been perhapsthe most amazing thing when people have drivenit. A number of them had expressed concern anddisbelief in our numbers – until they drove it. Theywould then come out with a smile on their face.One particular executive was extremely sceptical –but in the end wouldn’t stop driving it. It’s aremarkable little engine, and it’s achieving two-thirds of our fuel saving. We have been able toshow that extreme downsizing is possible and thatwe are able to assist clients to find the mostappropriate downsizing approach for them. Thisincludes all the influences of refinement, turbo lagminimisation and packaging improvements. It isalso important to say that what we have shownfrom downsizing the diesel engine is also applica-ble to gasoline engines too – so this could just aseasily have been a small gasoline engine. We areworking just as hard on small, highly efficientgasoline engine technologies.

Ricardo Quarterly Review

Were there any areas new to Ricardo?42 volt technologies in this particular type of appli-cation were new to us, and i-MoGen was a verygood way of getting that experience. Judging thesize of the electrical machine and the battery withValeo was not easy, nor was the actual physicalputting it all together – it’s more than just bulbs andbatteries. It is important to stress that there is moreto i-MoGen than just the vehicle deliverable. Takinga wider view, the whole purpose of doing it was togrow our business in these areas by showing theworld that we have got the necessary tools, skillsand real world experience. The i-MoGen pro-gramme has honed a lot of those skills. The devel-opment of the supervisory control system, forinstance: supervisory control is not new, but theway we’ve optimised the energy within that controlsystem is new. The supervisory control system willbe useful for future work, and we have also devel-oped a simulation tool in which you build suchcontrol strategies. It’s called VSIM and was sub-stantially developed within the programme. Ithas also been validated: it predicted 4.0 litresper 100km fuel consumption – and we achievedbetween 3.98 and 4.3, which I don’t think is too badconsidering the complexity of the system. In addi-tion, the modelling of the Diesel Particulate Filterwas extremely useful and impressive.

How did you approach the actual puttingtogether of the complete vehicle?Hybrid vehicles are clearly very complex, and therisks of getting it wrong are quite high – and if youdo get it wrong, you tend to have sparks. So theapproach of using our simulation toolset was to

build a control system in software, which then port-ed into the vehicle quickly and safely, and all pre-tested in the PC and on the bench. We took thisapproach and it worked virtually straight out of thebox. It was then a matter of developing that controlsystem in the vehicle and fine-tuning all the littleinteractions that make it a real and robust vehicle.Driveability is a good example: how you let in torqueassist and then ramp it out when you back off; howregenerative braking comes in dependant onvehicle speed, and what energy managementapproaches do to the driving feel. These sorts ofthings are very hard to simulate, but very easy tofeel in the car whether they are right or wrong.However, it is important to get the basics right firsttime.

What is the next step? Will there be a second-generation i-MoGen?Probably not yet. The i-MoGen programme’s promotional opportunities have now begun. We’vealready been doing roadshows [at OEMs] inEurope; soon we’ll be taking i-MoGen to the USand then to Japan. We’ll be showing people firstlythat we’ve learned a lot about hybrid cars, thedevelopment approaches and the real worldissues; next, we’ll show that these are the kind ofresults that can be achieved in terms of low fuelconsumption but still with a very driveable vehicle.We will also sell the fact that we’ve got the tech-nology to offer a range of solutions to other peo-ple, and also stress that other concepts are possi-ble. More importantly, this is our own work in col-laboration with Valeo and so it is not confidential.We can talk about it in detail. Our current clientwork in these areas is confidential and so we cannever discuss this openly.

What other classes of vehicle can the i-MoGenconcept be extended to?One of the most detailed concepts we have donewith similar technology is looking at a gasolineSUV vehicle. These vehicles are quite large andone of the problems they have is fuel consumption– they’re doing approximately 20 mpg (14 litres/100 km) in some cases. What we are seeing atthe moment is the dieselisation of some of these,and in most cases they result in vehicles that aregood to drive and good on fuel. But taking thesebig diesels to SULEV or Euro 4 emissions levelsand beyond has major cost and fuel consumptionimplications. We can show that downsizing thegasoline V8 to a V6 and mild hybridising it may bea better and more cost-effective solution than thediesel in some markets where ultra low emissionsare required. ■

i-MoGen elements fit standard production car platform

16 I-MOGEN: ENGINE DOWNSIZING Summer 2002

ENGINE DOWNSIZINGInterview with Ian Penny, Director ofDiesel Engineering, Ricardo

What is the thinking behind using such asmall engine in a medium-sized car?

Downsizing is a key concept, because at low loadswhen you are driving the car in an urban environ-ment you have inherently lower friction in a smallengine – so therefore your underlying fuel con-sumption is lower, too. You set the same perform-ance envelope as the bigger engine in terms ofpeak power and rated torque by pushing the littleengine, by improving the combustion system, theturbocharger and the fuel injection equipment. Allthose tie in to give you that advance, but whereyou won’t get that advance is at low speedbecause your turbo is sized to give you that [peak]power and has little effect at, say, 1000 rpm.That’s where the i-MoGen hybrid concept comesin, with electric torque assist at low speed.

What are the crucial developments that arenow enabling engines to be downsized?The limits on downsizing are launch feel (low endtorque) and NOx emissions. The i-MoGen torque-assist maintains launch and low end performance,while the latest high-pressure fuel injection equip-ment, coupled with our expertise in developingcombustion systems for small cylinders, managesNOx emissions. These are the key components butintegration and optimisation of the overall systemis essential.

How much lighter is the downsized engine?A direct comparison is complicated because i-MoGen does without certain familiar components.For example the starter motor, alternator andwater pump are either deleted or not integrated inthe engine. The base engine weight would reduceby 30-50 per cent on a like for like basis: a fullyoptimised conventional 1.2-litre engine would bearound 90kg.

If you had a truly clean sheet of paper, wouldyou go for three cylinders or four? In this application I would still favour a four cylin-der engine – mainly due to NVH considerations.There would be significant NVH problems with athree cylinder’s reduced firing frequency andtorque recoil at low speeds. The four cylinderengine offers a better performance-emissions-economy-NVH balance but it costs more. I expectthree cylinder engines are more likely to emerge inthe smallest vehicle segments.

What about friction?A three cylinder engine can have lower friction,though this benefit is largely offset if a balanceshaft is used. The three cylinder also requires a

The team leaderBrian G Cooper, Ricardo

The challengeTo develop a lightweight downsized high-speed diesel engine from a donor unit; tooptimise engine performance for hybridoperation; to match driving characteristics ofa conventional 2-litre turbodiesel; to achieveanticipated Euro 5 emissions

The designFour cylinder 1.2-litre DI diesel using latest-generation Bosch CR fuel injection, ValeoISA, Garrett VNT turbocharger

The result100PS/74kW (83PS/l/62kW/l)230Nm (192Nm/l)

larger flywheel, clutch and intake system, againrelated to the reduced firing frequency. These canlead to higher inertia which then causes higherfuel consumption and/or worse transient response.

Are there any other benefits of downsizing?Apart from improved fuel consumption, the down-sized engine will naturally be quieter and morerefined than a larger engine. For one, it has small-er, lighter reciprocating components which reducevibration forces on the vehicle. Another aspectwhich hasn’t been fully exploited yet is that with adownsized powertrain the crash protection isimproved. The lighter and smaller powertrain iseasier to package and you can provide more crushspace around it.

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Summer 2002 I-MOGEN: ENGINE DOWNSIZING 17Ricardo Quarterly Review

42 volt electric systemallows rapid start and riseto idle speed (above)

Mild hybrid hardware fitsstandard underhood space

(right)

Chassis dynamometertesting of i-MoGenhardware confirmedsimulation predictions of4 litres/100 km in the NEDC cycle (below)

You are running quite a low compression ratioof 17.5:1. Are diesel compression ratios com-ing down? Is this indicative of a trend?Yes, compression ratio reduction is a strong trendand we expect ratios of 16:1 in the next few years -- and as low as 14:1 in the longer term. The lowercompression ratio limits peak pressures at thesame power and allows you to reduce weight, costand friction. Alternatively, the lower compressionratio allows a substantial performance increasewithout major structural change to the engine.

What gives you your lower limit? Why did youstop at 17.5:1?Historically, combustion noise and cold start con-siderations forced compression ratios in the 19-21:1 range, but as technology progresses theseareas have been controlled through more sophisti-cated injection strategies. Today, the key limita-tions are cold and altitude driveability issues, inparticular white smoke and misfire. These issuesare not fundamental and will be resolved in thenext generation of diesel engines with moresophisticated air fuel and control systems. Acompression ratio of 17.5:1 is typical of currentengines and shows that we have not taken anyextreme measures to achieve the high perform-ance. We would use a lower compression ratioin a future evolution of this powertrain, coupledwith the appropriate air, fuel and control systemdevelopments.

How have you arrived at your aftertreatmentstrategy?The i-MoGen combustion system will meet Euro 5NOx with the application of a passive De NOx cata-lyst only. However, to comply with particulate emis-sion levels we also need to use a diesel particu-late filter (DPF). We decided to use an electricalDPF rather than one which required post-injectionand other complications for thermal regeneration.We used the VSIM software developed on the i-MoGen programme to look at all of this. WithVSIM we were able to model an electrical DPFand look at the fuel consumption penalty of justheating it electrically or post-injecting some fuelinto an oxidation catalyst up front, generating anexotherm to heat the DPF. All options are open,and because of the 42 volt hybrid electrical systemand the application of the common rail FIE systemwe were able to choose the best one.

How do you decide on the amount of electricassistance to provide?It could be anything from zero to 100 per centelectrical – after all, you could have a pure-electricAstra with nothing but a massive and expensivebattery. Or you could have a 50/50 hybrid, forinstance. But once you begin putting in big powerelectronics and batteries it all gets very expensive– and that’s why we see the mild hybrid as givingthe best value for money. You won’t get better fuelconsumption if you go more down the electricroute, because the most efficient way of changingfrom one energy to another is a small dieselengine. Hence, i-MoGen’s electrical power isapproximately 8 per cent of the rated diesel power– a mild hybrid.

What kind of further gains would you belooking at with an AMT?As the engine has already been down-sized wemight expect to achieve a further three to fiveper cent, but the most significant improvementwould be in driveability. ■

We have already discussed weight optimisa-tion: what further gains are on the horizon?An automated manual transmission (AMT) wouldbe one. The human driver is generally not good atgetting the best fuel consumption, but with an AMTyou can optimise the gear-shifting to give the bestfuel consumption for any condition. Ideally, thenext phase of this programme would be to do thiscommercially for an OEM and develop, say, a sixor seven-speed AMT.

18 I-MOGEN: SUB-SYSTEMS Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly Review

THERMAL SYSTEMSInterview with Pascal Revereault,Ricardo

Has working on the i-MoGen programmebeen an interesting challenge for you?

Yes it has. Before i-MoGen I had been working onconventional engines in conventional installations.So coming to i-MoGen was like having a cleansheet of paper to start from. Normally, a coolingsystem is about little more than protecting theengine; with i-MoGen it’s more a case of having alot of tools in your hand and making the most ofthem to create a thermal system in phase withvehicle targets.

What does this mean in practice?Sometimes you need to cool, sometimes you wantto keep heat in the system – which is more difficultwith conventional vehicles. It was really a case ofanalysing which thermal parameters are importantto the vehicle and how we can best manage them,instead of being constrained by a standard design.

Which parameters are the most important?We knew that emissions and fuel consumptionwould be the main drivers; we also knew fromengine testbed work which thermal parameterswould have an impact on these. The only differenceis that in the past we didn’t have the ability to playwith these. As an example, with i-MoGen we’ve gotelectrical pumps and ancillaries allowing us to adaptthe cooling to the actual engine needs as opposedto an engine-driven pump dictating the coolant flow.

What is the energy used by a conventionalengine-driven water pump?We normally quote a top figure of one kilowatt,and in our case the electric pump we use has amaximum consumption of 600 watts. Our singlepump does the job of two in conventional cars –the normal water pump and heat soak pump.

What takes place in the crucial warm-up phase?Rather than taking the heat away we try to keep itinside the engine to benefit consumption andemissions; at the same time you want heat to dis-tribute into the oil system so as to reduce friction.Another priority is to get some flow through theEGR cooler, even after a cold start.

How quickly do the pump and valves cycle?In terms of energy management it’s more efficientto get into a quasi steady-state condition, so youwant to keep these stable rather than stopping andstarting them.

way the ISA system should be controlled by thesupervisory controller. Moreover, simulations of thesystem by Ricardo and complete mapping of themachine performances helped to provide a goodidea of the system behaviour in advance. Difficultycame more from all the parameter adjustmentsneeded on all individual components than from thecomplete system control.

How much energy is saved by the 42 volt airconditioning system?30 per cent is saved by the 42 volt air conditioningsystem compared to the mechanical system. The42 volt air conditioning system has advantagesother than energy saving: it allows the air condi-tioning to operate during engine stop, pre-condi-tioning of the passenger compartment is now pos-sible, and the belt-less solution provides packag-ing advantages.

Is this ISA a feasible system for volume production? Market/OEM acceptance of the system is basedon power demand. It drives the choice between anintegrated or belt-driven starter-alternator. The ISAshould be targeted for high power applications andbigger cars: the belt-driven starter-alternators areaimed at the other applications. Nevertheless, anISA like this is feasible for volume production.

What would you change on a second-generation system?For same power output as the existing system, asecond-generation system would be based on abelt-driven machine. If the driveability of the vehicleneeds to be improved, more power in boost/alter-nator mode will be needed. In that case, the choiceof battery technology may be different, and thetype of machine (belt-driven or integrated) will bedefined depending on the final power output. ■

The team leaderLaurent Thery, Valeo

The challengeTo provide a robust electrical machine capable of providing mild hybrid operation forthe i-MoGen vehicle

The designA 6kW water-cooled flywheel mounted Integrated Starter-Alternator (ISA)

The resultEffective in providing torque boost,regenerative braking, and stop-startoperation. An enabler for the DPFaftertreatment technology

INTEGRATEDSTARTER-ALTERNATORInterview with Laurent Thery, Valeo

How long has Valeo been working onIntegrated Starter Alternator systems?

Valeo has been working on starter-alternatorssince 1997. We started with the belt-drivenmachines – which should enter mass productionearlier [than the flywheel mounted devices] – andhave been studying the ISA concept since 1999.

What was the main priority in the design of thissystem?The main priority of the design was to achieve thebest power to volume ratio (space allowed for themachine was very limited on the car) at the lowestpossible cost.

How much torque can the ISA feed into thevehicle? How much electrical energy can itgenerate?On the i-MoGen vehicle, maximum torque avail-able from the ISA varies from 45Nm at 1000rev/min to 30Nm at 2000 rev/min (between 5 and6 kW of mechanical power).The maximum electri-cal energy generated is 6kW.

What guided your choice of battery and batterylocation?We needed a battery able to provide power forboost, to accept sufficient power during regenera-tive braking phases and capable of withstandingcharge/discharge cycles. At the time the pro-gramme started, several technologies answeredthese needs (Li-ion, super capacitors and NiMH)but NiMH appeared to be the solution closest toproduction. Battery size has been limited (forweight and cost reasons) and since this type ofbattery is not well suited for an underbonnet envi-ronment, we were able to take advantage of thespare wheel cavity. This was the least intrusive yetmost readily accessible place for the battery onsuch a demonstrator, but location under the floorof the passenger compartment could be consid-ered for a production vehicle.

What were the most difficult challenges in theprogramme?One challenge has been to design and realise anISA able to fulfil the torque/power requirementsand which fitted into the limited available space.However, full system integration has been thebiggest challenge – getting the best from all thesystems and ensure that they all communicatecorrectly together.

Who (Valeo or Ricardo) led the integration ofthe system into the vehicle?Ricardo, as project leader, led the integration ofthe system into the vehicle.

Was there a language barrier?Language has not been a problem on this project.

Was it difficult to establish the control parameters for the system in the vehicle?Definition of the control parameters of the systemstarted very early: this helped to define clearly the

Summer 2002 I-MOGEN: SUB-SYSTEMS 19

What was your broad strategy in address-ing the issue of exhaust aftertreatment?

First of all, we identified the target for vehicletailpipe emissions: we set this as half of the futuremandated light duty diesel Euro 4 limits for 2005 –in effect 0.0125 g/km particulate matter, and0.125g/km NOx. Once we’d identified these tar-gets, we had to look at the strategy required toachieve them. And because of the traditionaltrade-off between NOx and particulates, we had todecide whether to target low NOx or low sootengine-out.

Why did you decide to go the low engine-outNOx route? Are there lower energy levelsinvolved?It’s partly robustness of the aftertreatment system.The opposite strategy of reducing NOx significantlywith the aftertreatment would have meant eitherSCR (selective catalytic reduction) using urea as areductant, or a lean NOx trap technique. SCR iswell proven on heavy duty engines but the temper-ature window is poorly suited to lighter vehicles;with lean NOx traps, there are questions abouttheir durability, the ability to run the diesel enginerich, and fuel sulphur levels. We felt it the bestoverall strategy to control NOx in the engine andthen tackle higher levels of particulates with a particulate filter.

Did the fact that i-MoGen is a hybrid affectyour decision?Clearly, the engine’s stop-start operation did notwork in our favour, but the fact that it’s a smallengine helps as it pushes up the average load andincreases your exhaust temperatures. But becauseit is a hybrid system we suddenly have available42 volt electrics and high levels of power. Thisenables a whole new technology for the aftertreat-ment system where we can employ an electricallyheated particulate filter.

Is the electrically heated particulate filter moreenergy-efficient?We predict that the electrically heated diesel par-ticulate filter (DPF) will give us a fuel consumptionpenalty of less than 0.5 per cent. That compareswith technologies like the lean NOx trap where thepenalty can be up to four per cent. The DPF clear-ly uses a lot of electrical power during regenera-tion, but it isn’t a continuous power requirement asit only regenerates once every several hundredkilometres. The supervisory controller operates thewhole powertrain so as to maximise the electricalpower to the DPF during regeneration.

Could you talk us through the process?The strategy of the system is to initiate a regener-ation cycle with a short burst of electrical power:once the soot starts to burn, its reaction with oxygen is itself highly exothermic. This makes theregeneration largely self-sustaining.

How does the combination of DPF heating anddiesel inlet throttling work?We throttle the engine in order to reduce the air-flow going over the heater element: this raises theexhaust gas temperatures to over 550ºC to initiate

How do you heat the cabin when the enginerejects so little heat?Valeo has developed PTC heaters which electrical-ly heat the air flowing into the cabin. Their powerdemand is obviously supported by the IntegratedStarter Alternator (ISA) and they provide directand efficient conversion of the electrical power.

What are the thermal requirements of theIntegrated Starter Alternator?It’s water cooled, as part of the main system. It’stricky, as it has electrical components which weneed to keep at a fairly low temperature. We locat-ed it downstream of the radiator, the coolest pointin the system. The cooling strategy recognises thecooling needs of the ISA and increases its coolantflow accordingly.

If you had a completely clean sheet of paper,what would you include? Would you cool theISA separately, for instance?What’s viable is one pump and several well-locat-ed valves. I don’t believe we need more than thatat present – maybe in the future when electricalloads become greater we might think about a secondary cooling system.

Could these lessons be applied to a gasolineengine, or maybe a big V8 diesel?Gasoline would require a rather differentapproach, with more initial heat to manage. Withthe big diesel you could use basically the samephilosophy. ■

The team leaderCraig Goodfellow, Ricardo

The challengeTo provide a robust aftertreatment system forthe i-MoGen vehicle providing less than halfthe emissions levels allowable under Euro 4light duty diesel legislation for 2005

The designLow NOx combustion system together with aclose coupled diesel oxidation catalyst withan element of passive deNOx activity, anunderfloor silicon carbide electrically regener-ated particulate filter

The resultA system meeting the programme emissionstargets with the capability of particulate filterregeneration under low speed and load

filter regeneration, but it also affects the combustion itself. We therefore manage the othercombustion parameters to maintain torque so theregeneration isn’t noticed by the driver: the EGRand the fuelling rate will also change because weare influencing the air fuel ratio.

How long does the purge cycle take?For an oxygen-based regeneration it is fairly quick– it’s usually over in a couple of minutes or so.This compares with the NO2-based regenerationsyou have with other passive trap systems: thesetypically take up to 20 minutes. The driver shouldnot notice the process: the control system calcu-lates the loading on the particulate filter and willensure the process is smooth and safe. That’s thething about i-MoGen: a lot of the technologies onthe car have been known for a while, but we nowhave the control system capability to make thesethings work in an integrated manner. The controlchallenge on this has been phenomenal.

Is it too early to get any idea of the costs?It is still early days, but there’s no big cost issue atthe moment. What you should bear in mind is thatall the components in this system are alreadyavailable off the shelf: the DPF is from Emitec,and the rest of the units are from JohnsonMatthey. There’s nothing fancy here: the magic isin the way it is all controlled.

You claim the DPF’s efficiency is 99 per centfor carbonaceous soot. Does this open thedoor to diesels in places like the US, wherethere has been heightened concern about particulate matter?It may well do. The advantage of our system isthat we are avoiding two of the technologies theUS has traditionally not favoured: firstly thoserequiring any kind of metallic-based fuel additivefor filter regeneration, and secondly circumventinghigh levels of NOx aftertreatment which wouldrequire urea injection and the establishment of aurea infrastructure. ■

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The team leaderPascal Revereault, Ricardo

The challengeTo optimise thermal energy managementwithin the cooling system to minimise con-sumption and emissions; to minimise parasiticenergy losses by dispensing with mechanicalpumps and front-end drives

The designLow-capacity, high heat rejection system withintelligent operation of valves and electricpump. Additional PTC cabin heaters

The resultAn intelligent thermal management systemsupporting powertrain and vehicle targets

EXHAUST AFTERTREATMENTInterview with Craig Goodfellow, Ricardo

20 I-MOGEN: SYSTEMS INTEGRATION Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly review

SYSTEMS INTEGRATIONInterview with Don Newton, Director of Control & Electronics, Ricardo

gap between the torque the driver calls for andwhat the engine can supply: this helps driveability.You’ve also got full load acceleration, when thesystem gives it everything. For regen’ braking wedecided on the simplest approach – to ramp it inas soon as the fuelling goes to zero. You can hard-ly feel this in operation as it is effectively compen-sating for the reduced engine braking from oursmall engine, and it also has a big advantage [overbrake pedal triggered systems] in that you regen-erate more frequently because you don’t need tomove your foot.

How do you set about calibrating a hybridvehicle?You have to deal with the interactions betweenengines and ISAs and things like energy manage-ment. Because we have used the same tool asBosch used for their engine control unit, it simpli-fied calibration of things like the EGR and theVGT, which are in the VEMPS unit. An importantarea was the phasing out of the electric assist: theISA only works below 2200 rev/min, so you haveto phase it out and phase in the engine without thedriver feeling any steps in torque.

In terms of validating the original simulations,has the vehicle’s performance shown thesepredictions to be accurate?Yes, for example, we were predicting about four[litres per 100km] and we got about four. ■

The team leader Peter Fussey, Ricardo

The challengeTo provide a control architecture, hardwareand software capable of optimising the per-formance of the i-MoGen vehicle in terms ofits fuel consumption, driveability, emissionsperformance and internal climate control

The designThe use of complete vehicle simulations andrapid prototyping tools allowed a successfulimplementation of the control strategies inRicardo’s VEMPS unit (Vehicle and EngineManagement Prototyping System)

The resultAn integrated control system that provides thedriver with a complex vehicle that drives like aconventional one

minimise the objective function as you go along.The objective function analysis talks about costsand benefit, so if you generate, it’s a cost, and ifyou motor, it’s a benefit. At the beginning of theprogramme we asked ourselves the first questionwhether we should motor with the ISA, boostingelectrically on the move in order to reduce emis-sions. It’s not an easy question, as all that electric-ity you use to boost has to come from somewhere,and because we’ve got a lot of electrical loads oni-MoGen we have already used up a lot of ourregen’ energy. So there’s no ‘free’ electricity – anything we use for boost we have to generate.

With the strategy running we soon confirmedthat with our optimisation criteria, there are veryfew occasions when you would motor to reducethe objective function.

Could this be applied to any combination ofpower sources?Yes, and not just different power sources. Youcould extend your parameters to include, say, NVHas one of your cost functions.

Are there other real world constraints you haveto take into account?When you go to the real world, you get other con-straints coming in. One of these is that for the bat-tery to maintain a normal life the zone of state ofcharge we are allowed to play with constrainsthese types of strategies. Other functions getramped out as the state of charge nears its limit.

How does the strategy work in terms of thecomponents interacting?The idea is to have a supervisory controller, whereone module looks after everything else. On thevehicle there are five control units: Bosch for thefuel injection, the Ricardo VEMPS rapid prototypecontroller running the supervisory control strate-gies as well as new engine-related functions suchas thermal management and exhaust aftertreat-ment, and three Valeo controllers looking after thebattery, the ISA and the HVAC system. The super-visory architecture allows the other controllers todo all the low-level work with the I/O; they talk in reasonably high-level language to the supervisorycontrol. This allows us to develop hybrid strategiesindependent of the low-level work.

How did you define your strategy for electricboost and regenerative braking?There are two wayswe need to boost thevehicle. Turbo lagcompensation, whenthe ISA bridges the

Is it true to say that systems integration is thekey to the whole i-MoGen project?Yes, in many ways it is. Our job is to co-ordinateall the sub-systems so that the end product iseffectively more than the sum of its parts.

You have a vast number of systems here.Where do you begin?With this project, and with many others, you gener-ally start with some simulation work. You canexplore ideas freely in simulation without having tobuild expensive prototype systems and vehicles.So we were able to look at a lot of ‘what-if?’scenarios – for instance, what happens if we do alot of boosting with the electric machine, will the batteries drop too low? You can also look at theeffects of these decisions on parameters like fuelconsumption and emissions.

Do you model the whole vehicle?Yes – when you do simulations it is important thatyou capture the whole loop. A good example is theDPF (diesel particulate filter), which needs toregenerate periodically. To regenerate, the DPF isheated up by an electric heater, which is a signifi-cant electric load. When you switch the heater on,you have to generate the electricity, which meansthe electric machine starts generating – which inturn means the engine has to work harder, makingthe exhaust gases hotter. This in its turn actuallyimproves the DPF regeneration process. You haveto consider the system as a whole.

How much did your thinking change as a resultof the original simulations?We spent quite a lot of time thinking about thenew components, for example, how to control theelectric machine. Effectively, you have an infinitenumber of ways of supplying torque to the wheels– you can boost electrically and use less engine,or generate and use more engine, for instance.The controller has to make a decision on the splitbetween the engine and ISA .

What does this strategy consist of, and howdoes it operate?It looks at how you optimise the use of electricalenergy in the electrical systems. The i-MoGenvehicle has many electrical loads – water pump,electric fans, air conditioning and so on. The ques-tion for the optimisation really boils down to this:you’ve got a certain amount of energy to generate,when is the best time to generate it?

How do you define ‘best’ when it comes todeciding the time to generate?In our case ‘best’ meant going for low fuel con-sumption and low NOx emissions, because wecouldn’t expect too much NOx reduction from thepassive De NOx catalyst.

But isn’t there often a trade off between NOx

and consumption?Yes there is. So what we do is introduce some-thing called an objective function, which is effec-tively a weighted sum of the fuel consumption andNOx emissions – and what we then want to do is

Summer 2002 INTERVIEW: THIERRY MORIN 21Ricardo Quarterly review

Seeing – and being seenNow fifteen months intohis chairmanship of Valeo,Thierry Morin hasestablished a clear visionfor the future of the multi-faceted Paris-based Tier 1 giant. But, as ourinterview reveals, manydifficult decisions had tobe taken along the way

Mr Morin, for a year now your name hasbeen associated with the globalrestructuring of Valeo. What has beenachieved so far?When I took over as Chairman of Valeo inMarch last year, Valeo had just recorded itsworst losses ever. Against this background,one of my main objectives was to restore thecompany’s profitability. I am glad to say thatwe are well under way to achieving this. Ouroperating results for 2001 show a continuedrecovery which can be attributed to the effortswe have undertaken in several areas.

My first challenge was to refocus the Groupon its core businesses on the one hand, andto boost its innovation and technology on theother. This implies not only restructuringaction plans, such as reduced supply base ornon-core business divestitures, but alsoenhanced R&D within our strategic Domains.Valeo is building its future through innovationand high technology and we will continuethese efforts in 2002.

Valeo has recently announced the closures of some sites in North America.Is the Valeo business in the US more difficult than in other regions of the world?Valeo has nearly 25 per cent of its businessin North America. It is a fact that the NorthAmerican automotive market is currentlyexperiencing a downturn. Valeo is closelylinked to the vehicle manufacturers’ produc-tion schedules. However, we have beenproactive in anticipating this downturn thanksto the efforts that are now instrumental inturning the company around.

Let’s take a closer look at Europe. Whatare your economic expectations for theEuropean automotive industry this yearand what are your plans for Valeo? In the expectation of a further slowdown inthe European market, Valeo will reap the

benefits of the actions begun in 2001 and willcontinue its recovery. Our worldwide restruc-turing process will further strengthen the com-petitiveness of our industrial base. We arealso increasing joint customer developmentprogrammes of leading high-technology cost-competitive systems. To do this, we are capi-talising on our technological expertise in ourkey Domains presented at the Frankfurt MotorShow last year: “Electrical EnergyManagement”, “Seeing and Being Seen”,“Vehicle Thermal Systems”, “Vehicle Accessand Security” and “Driveline Systems”.

What is happening with your Rochestersite? Which exact profitability prospectsdo they have to fulfil and what is furtherplanned with this factory?We are implementing a four-point plan to cre-ate a profitable future for our Rochester facili-ty: customer partnership, supplier consolida-tion, operational efficiencies and labour costoptimisation. Our goal is to ensure that theVESI (Valeo Electrical Systems Inc) businessat Rochester becomes viable.

You’ll try to better integrate the supplierbase. What does that mean exactly? Our objective is to reduce the costs of theglobal supply chain by reducing the number ofsuppliers, select the best and offer them morevolume in return for better productivity andtechnology. This should further enhance whatwe call the Valeo extended enterprise, whichincludes both Valeo and its suppliers.

To this end, we have several key pro-grammes. We have a preferred supplier pro-gramme, which today comprises 50 selectedtop suppliers. We also launched a global e-procurement programme with on-line

catalogues and on-line bidding designed tooptimise purchasing, procurement and suppli-er integration. This saves time, facilitates com-munication, and strengthens ties with our bestsuppliers. Additionally we are implementingspecific logistics programmes to reduce transportation costs.

To reduce your production costs, you willincrease standardisation. Is that possiblefor a supplier who has to meet many different wishes of its customers? Our goal is to standardise components andprocesses to ensure quality and reduce costswithin all Valeo and supplier plants. Using thisstandardisation approach, Valeo is able toconcentrate on its integration know-how inorder to respond to individual customerdemands for complete and innovative customised systems.

At the Frankfurt Motor Show you definedValeo’s key Domains – Electrical EnergyManagement, Seeing and Being Seen,Vehicle Thermal Systems, Vehicle Accessand Security, and Driveline Systems. Couldyou give us a short overview and whatnew developments are in the pipeline?“Domains” are a visionary approach to cus-tomer-led innovation to better meet customerexpectations. They are our fields of expertise.The Domains approach is the foundation ofour marketing and technology strategy.Through Domains, we further identify andexploit the company’s synergies.

We sign technology partnerships whereappropriate and have just entered an alliancewith International Rectifier to strengthen thetechnologies in the Electrical EnergyManagement Domain. We are demonstratingto our customers how Domains work in prac-tice by equipping several vehicles with numer-ous integrated innovative systems. Our“Seeing and Being Seen” vehicle now inter-links lane departure warning, rain-light-tunnelsensor, flat blades, parking slot measurement,hybrid parking aid with radar, wash/wipe sen-sor and rear camera with sensor fusion.Already, many of our customers haveexpressed enthusiasm for these advancedsystems combinations that demonstrate theimportance of the Valeo technology for theautomotive industry. ■

This article is taken from an interview originally published inAutoTechnology 2/2002 page 42-43.

The international magazine for automotive engineering, productionand management. For further information contact

AutoTechnology@bertelsmann.de or visit the magazine’s websitewww.auto-technology.com

the blocks of its high-performance 3.3-litrediesel. However, annual production volumesfor this Audi engine are typically around only3500 to 4000 units. In North America,Caterpillar is using some CGI parts, whileChrysler uses a type of CGI for the bed-plates of its 4.7-litre and 3.7-litre V6 gasolineengines for use in Jeep and Dodge trucks. Anumber of car and truck manufacturers havealso been evaluating CGI in their motorsportactivities, and as such it has been success-fully used in the German and British TouringCar Championships, in Formula 3000,NASCAR, the World Rally Championshipand in the various racing championships forheavy duty trucks.

The secret of CGI is found in itsmicrostructure. In simple terms, it is a partic-ular grade of iron in which magnesium con-tent is important and needs to be controlledto within +/- 0.003 per cent. It must also havemore than 80 per cent of its graphite particles in compacted or vermicular form.Natural crack propagation avenues tend tobe eliminated in CGI, thanks to its rounded

edges and irregular surfaces – in contrastto the rather elongated flakes with sharp

edges and smooth surfacesthat characterise conven-tional grey cast iron.

Where normal greycast iron has a ten-sile strength of 25

kg/mm2, that of CGIis 40 kg/mm2.

One of the issues that has inhibited CGIfrom being used in mass production untilnow is its machining properties. Unlike greycast iron, CGI is a very low sulphur iron solacks the lubricating layer of manganese sulphide that facilitates machining. Variousstudies have shown that compared withmachining grey cast iron, tool life for millingand drilling operations in CGI can be halfand tool life in boring operations restricted tojust one tenth. The machine tool powerrequirements are up to 30 per cent higher,while other specific recommendationsinclude larger spindle motors and spindles,stiffer tool holding and increased damping.

Until very recently, it has been impossibleto machine CGI cylinder blocks with thespeed and economic efficiency required forhigh-volume series production – but thingshave now changed. Working in partnershipwith a number of organisations includingFord, the PTW Institute at DarmastadtUniversity, Aston University, ABB for foundryautomation, Grainger & Worrall for rapid prototyping and Lamb Technicon for high-volume machining, the Swedish companySinterCast – which developed the material –has come up with a number of solutions.

What has so excited some in the automo-tive industry are the superior properties ofCGI, which allow smaller and lighter engines

22 ADVANCED MATERIALS Summer 2002

During the last 18 months there hasbeen a great deal of debate aboutmaterial usage in future diesel

engines. With talk of peak pressuresincreasing from the current 160 to 180 bar toaround 190 to 210 bar for light duty dieselengines, existing materials are reaching theirlimits. This is allowing new materials andsolutions to make an appearance.

One of the talks of the town is compactedgraphite iron (CGI), the material that is beingheralded in some circles as the panacea toany problem. Robust and able to withstandhigher pressures than either aluminium orgrey cast iron, it is being championed byboth Ford and Audi. Both have openly statedthat they will be launching V6 diesel engineswith CGI cylinder blocks in 2003. Once fully

Ricardo Quarterly review

ramped up, it could mean as many as400,000 units a year being producedbetween the two companies.

According to some more bullish reports,though, this is nothing but a drop in theocean: there is talk of a potential 10 millionengines a year made using CGI blocks.Whether this number will ever be remotelyreached is open to question, but what is notbeyond doubt is that Ford is investing morethan $1 billion over 10 years in its new LionV6 engine that will power future Jaguars,Land Rovers and Fords. A V8 derivative isalso in the pipeline, so Ford for one is takingthe CGI solution very seriously.

CGI is not a ‘new’ material as such – Fordengineers have been working on it for thelast two decades and Audi has used CGI for

Material GainsNew materials promise to give the cylinder blocks ofthe future far greater performance. William Kimberleytalks to the Ricardo design team about their ideas

The Audi 3.3 litre V8 diesel isone of the first productionapplications to use CGIapplications for the cylinderblock casting

over the cylinders. One advantage, saysAndy Skipton-Carter, chief designer, lightduty diesel engines, at Ricardo, is a weightsaving of 1.5 kg, while the coolant jacket isnot compromised by casting requirementsand can be optimised. The material and construction of the sleeve can be chosen tominimise thermal and acoustic radiation. Itdoes mean, though, that a robust sealingsystem is required to prevent leaks, andthere will be some reduction of powertrainbending stiffness.

Skipton-Carter and his team are also look-ing at separate crankcase covers where theyare fitted to each side close to thecrankcase. Again, an additional weightreduction of around 900g is a major factor,while the material and construction of thecovers can be chosen to minimise thermaland acoustic radiation. Other advantages,says Skipton-Carter, are that the bulkheadholes will provide good internal enginebreathing, and an integral oil drain, breather,dipstick tube and loom trunking can be provided within the covers.

Another area being investigated by thelight duty diesel team is that of the advancedmonoblock concept, which to many will harkback to the pre-war days of Bugatti amongstothers. Again, there are weight advantages,bore distortion is reduced due to the removalof the head bolt load and there are not anyhead gasket durability problems. Additionalbenefits, says Skipton-Carter, are improvedcooling around the top of the cylinders, andfatigue resistance is increased as the struc-ture can be pre-loaded. However, the wholedesign is far more complicated and wouldmake rigorous demands on the cylinder headcasting and the machining of the cylinderbore and gas face features.

Ricardo is also looking at advanced skele-tal structures being made out of stress bear-ing materials of either iron or aluminium, butwith the external parts that carry less load

being made of plastic.At the end of the day, though,

both grey cast iron and aluminiumwill remain widely used for themainstream light duty dieselengine, maintains McNamara,pointing to Volkswagen’s forthcom-ing V10 in which aluminium isbeing used as far as possible forweight considerations. “There is nodoubt that CGI will prove beneficialfor V-configuration light duty dieselengines, but it is unlikely to be uni-versal,” he says, “as there will usu-ally be other solutions available.Grey cast iron and aluminium willbe with us as engine materials fora great deal longer yet.” ■

William Kimberley is editor ofAutomotive Engineer

Summer 2002 ADVANCED MATERIALS 23

with improved performance and fuel econ-omy. This has led to predictions that 80per cent of all light duty diesel engines willbe made out of this material in the future.Nevertheless, popular though CGI maybecome, there will still be a place for greycast iron and aluminium in future dieselengines, says Paul McNamara, director ofdesign at Ricardo.

“When you look at the range of materi-als available for the design of a moderncylinder block it becomes immediatelyapparent that they each have their respec-tive advantages and disadvantages,depending on the engine configurationand duty,” says McNamara.

“It’s not just a case of which material hasthe highest specific strength or the lowestunit cost – otherwise the industry wouldsimply decide upon the optimal materialand fix upon it for all future products.”

McNamara goes on to describe how theparticular challenge of designing a mod-ern V-configuration engine lends itself tosome of the advantages of CGI. “Onthese engines you have complex castinggeometry between the bulkheads of thecylinder block where you need to maintainthin wall sections under fairly high struc-tural loads. There is a critical Z-shapedsection at this location which is a funda-mental aspect of the V-configuration, andthe additional strength of CGI can enablea more compact – and lower-weight –design solution.”

Despite the talk of increasing engineratings, particularly for diesel passengercar applications, McNamara’s view is thatthis need not in itself translate into arequirement for higher strength materials.“We are currently doing research anddevelopment work focused on startingdiesel engines with lower compressionratios which have very high ratings butmaintain current cylinder pressures. Thismeans that even for future increasing-ly high output diesel engines we maywell continue to use grey iron or alu-minium for applications demandinglower engine weight.”

But while the Ricardo view of thefuture for automotive diesel blocks isthat CGI will find application in V-con-figurations while more conventionalmaterials will continue to dominate forin-line engines, this rule may notextend to the heavy truck sector. IanJohnstone, chief designer foradvanced technology engines, takesup the story:

“It’s a personal view, but I believethat CGI is likely to play a significantrole in heavy-duty truck engines aswell as in the automotive sector.Maximum cylinder pressures are like-ly to continue increasing on truck

Ricardo Quarterly review

engines, and with 220 bar being the figurewe are currently aiming for, CGI has attrac-tive properties for both in-line and V-configu-rations.” However Johnstone does not viewCGI as a panacea, even for this sector. “Weknow that many manufacturers are workingon CGI blocks and liners and we can under-stand the rationale for this, but we need tokeep an open mind as there may well bemany instances where more conventionalmaterials offer a more appropriate designsolution.”

While Ricardo is nevertheless undertakingits own investigations into the material andhas a research engine with peak pressuresup to 300 bar, it is also considering othermaterials and solutions for future (2010-2015) engines. One such is the plasticcoolant sleeve for automotive engines wherethe coolant jacket is not included in the blockcasting, but rather is a separate sleeve fitted

Ricardo design director PaulMcNamara: the additional strength ofCGI can be valuable in the design ofV-configuration engines

Volkswagen V10 diesel: uses aluminium primarilyfor weight reasons

On May 23rd Ricardo hostedthe first in what it intends to

become a series of technicalseminars on topics of interestand relevance for automotiveindustry executives. This firstsuch seminar, entitled PassengerCar Diesel Engines in Europe,attracted a capacity audience ofdelegates, drawn from through-out Europe and representing across-section of the auto indus-try including vehicle manufactur-ers, Tier 1 components suppli-ers, and oil companies.

The seminar comprised twotechnical sessions. The morningsession was led by BrendanWilde and focused on whyEuropeans buy diesel passengercars. Much of the material forthis session was drawn from anin-depth research project investi-gating this subject conducted byWilde and colleagues over thepast year. A wide range ofdetailed results drawn from thestudy were shared with the sem-inar delegates. Recent trends inEuropean diesel car purchasingwere described, together with adetailed segmentation by coun-try and by market sector.

Wilde then moved on to outline his findings as to whyEuropeans buy diesel cars, aswell as the reasons for geo-graphical and sectoral differ-ences. For example, whileGermany accounts for the

24 RICARDO NEWS Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly Review

Ricardo seminar series launcheswith Diesel Engines in Europe

The next Ricardo technical seminar is planned for September26th and will focus on mild hybrid vehicle technology. The

seminar will commence with a broad overview of alternativepowertrain technologies, with reference to the Ricardo technolo-gy road map in this area. The overview will consider parallel,series and mild hybrids as well as fuel cells, and will demon-strate the attractiveness of mild hybrid technology in the shortterm. This will be followed by an in-depth description of the

systems embodied in the i-MoGen project featured in this issueof RQ, as well as wider issues of mild hybridisation. As with allRicardo seminars, ample opportunity will be given for informeddiscussion and debate, and delegates will receive a comprehen-sive set of presentation materials.● For information about this and future Ricardo technical semi-nars, please contact Rob Thring at RHThring@ricardo.com orsee the Ricardo website at www.ricardo.com

Mild Hybrid Seminar set for September

largest number of diesel vehiclessold, the proportion of cars soldthat are diesel is highest inFrance. The diesel penetration inminivans has overtaken that ofSUVs, and diesel use in luxurycars has increased recently too.This topic sparked a consider-able debate amongst the dele-gates. The discussions weremade all the more informativeand insightful thanks to the manymetrics that Wilde presented.These included charts of predict-ed price elasticity for diesel carsin Europe for 2006 and predic-tions of the key growth segmentsbetween now and 2010.

The afternoon session was ledby Steve Whelan, manager ofdiesel engine development atRicardo Consulting Engineers.Whelan provided a broadoverview of the technologytrends of diesel passenger cars,including downsizing, boostingtechnologies, emission controlsystems, system integration andcontrol, and mild hybrid systems.Given the breadth of this subjectarea, it was not possible to dis-cuss each area in full detail.

From the questions and dis-cussion that followed it becameabundantly clear that there wouldbe great interest in Ricardo

Brendan Wilde (left) presentedresults of diesel market

research, while Steve Whelan (above) highlighted

future technologies

organising a series of technicalseminars focusing in more depthin a range of specialist areas ofdiesel engine technology. ■

Summer 2002 RICARDO NEWS 25Ricardo Quarterly Review

Ricardo Software announced in June that it has appointedSumisho Electronics Co. Ltd. as the distributor in Japan of

the company’s suite of engineering analysis software products.In addition to handling all sales enquiries in Japan, Sumishowill also provide support and training to new Ricardo Softwarecustomers in Japan. Commenting on the appointment, RicardoSoftware president Dr Richard Johns said: “SumishoElectronics Co. Ltd. has extensive experience in distributing

and supporting engineering software and its appointment asour distribution and support agent will enhance the service thatwe are able to offer our Japanese customers, in particular byproviding access to Japanese language and local time-zonecommunications.” Sales enquiries in Japan may now be direct-ed to: Science System Sales, Sumisho Electronics Co. Ltd.,Tel:+81 (3) 5217-5390, Fax: +81 (3) 5217-5391 or e-mail rs@info.sse.co.jp

New Japanese distributor for Ricardo Software

Following the ground-breakingceremony in December

2001, work is now progressingapace on the new Ricardo Inctechnology campus in VanBuren Township, Michigan.As the ground is clearedand the structure of thenew buildings takes shape,the scale of the expansionof the site into the newDetroit TechnologyCampus is immediatelyapparent. “The develop-ment of our Belleville siteis a significant investmentfor Ricardo and is demon-strative of the confidencethat Ricardo places in thefuture of its NorthAmerican business,” com-mented Ricardo IncPresident, Jeremy Holt.

Ricardo views this devel-opment as a more funda-mental strategic decisionthan one driven solely by theneed to grow and consolidate itsDetroit based facilities. Followinga thorough review of all of itsNorth American operations, thecompany decided to embark onthis major expansion for a widerange of reasons, from hardfinancial concerns to the softerissues that are all important for apeople-based business. “It’s notjust about optimising the coststructure of the business andproviding headroom for expan-sion,” continues Holt. “It’s aboutachieving a critical mass formaximum operational efficiencyin working on major customerprogrammes, sharing knowledgeand technology between engi-neering teams – and providing apositive and rewarding workingenvironment for our employees.”

The new two-storey office and

vehicle engineering complex willalmost triple the size of the existing Ricardo facility and pro-vides capacity for a further sub-sequent expansion of similarsize to the current buildings. Thenew building comprises 49,000sq ft (4550m2) of office space

which will be used for design,CAE, thermo-fluids, vehiclerefinement, control and calibra-tion engineering teams. Spacewill also be available for confer-ence rooms, project offices, atechnical library, administrativeand support facilities. The

garage area and vehicle work-shop will occupy in excess of afurther 20,000 sq ft, includingconfidential vehicle evaluation

and assembly areas. Thenew campus will incorpo-rate additional parking for218 employee cars togeth-er with a confidential park-ing lot for project vehicles.Ricardo is taking the cam-pus concept seriously, witha covered pedestrianaccess provided betweenthe new building and theexisting technical centre.

Ricardo is not alone inrecognising the potentialof Van Buren Township asbeing an excellent busi-ness location, next to theInterstate network andonly 10 minutes fromDetroit MetropolitanAirport. In May 2002Visteon Corporationannounced that it will build

its new global headquarters lessthan a mile from the RicardoDetroit Technology Campus.Such a vote of confidence in the local area as an ideal location for the automotive supply chain is well appreciatedby community leaders.

Commenting on these twoimportant automotive industrydevelopments, Cindy King,Supervisor of Van BurenTownship, commented: “Ricardo'snew Detroit Technology Campusand Visteon's new global head-quarters are two examples ofwhy Van Buren Township is agreat place for businesses andresidents. The Ricardo campusexpansion will be an asset toVan Buren Township and helpset a positive image in our community." ■

Ricardo CEO Rodney Westhead digs the first foundation – with the aid of some extra horsepower

Detroit TechnologyCampus takes shape

On May 29 at Windsor Castlenear London, Bentley

Motors chairman and chiefexecutive Franz-Josef Paefgenformally presented the newBentley State Limousine as agift to Queen Elizabeth II fromthe British Automotive Industryon the occasion of her GoldenJubilee, the celebration of 50years on the throne.

The result of a two-year collaboration by a consortium ofBritish-based motor industryorganisations, of which Ricardowas a leading player, the StateLimousine soon entered royalservice as a part of the officialJubilee celebrations. Its first offi-cial journey was on Tuesday, 4thJune, when the car was used totake The Queen and The Dukeof Edinburgh from the nationalService of Thanksgiving at StPaul’s Cathedral, London, and itwill be used extensively through-out the Queen’s Golden JubileeTour.

Ricardo was a major partnerto Bentley on the programme,carrying responsibility for allpowertrain integration aspectsof the vehicle. “We were delight-ed to have been a key engineer-ing partner to Bentley for thisprogramme,” commented

Ricardo Vehicle Engineeringmanaging director, CliveHickman. “Ricardo has a widerange of design technologiesappropriate to a challenge suchas this, and we have a thoroughunderstanding of the marquevalues necessary for a vehicleof this stature.”

The project team created adigital buck to enable them tosimulate and develop the under-bonnet package layout beforemoving into hardware. Not onlydid this provide a means ofproducing a high-qualityengineering solution but it alsosaved both time and cost. The

team were also responsible forthe thermal management andrefinement aspects of thepowertrain installation, and werecareful to ensure that the all-important marque valueexpectations of a Bentleyproduct were maintained in theengineering work carried out.

The basic statistics of theBentley State Limousine givesome indication of the engineer-

ing challenges it represented. At6220 mm (249 in) in length andat a height of 1770 mm (70 in),it dwarfs the company’s Arnage,from which the design isderived. Its wheelbase of 3844mm (154 in), is around 1300mm (52 in) longer than that ofan average sized family sedanand it has a kerb weight of 3390kg (7474 lb). Despite this, thevehicle can accelerate to 60mph in 8 seconds and has a topspeed of 120 mph (195 km/h).

The car is powered by a modified version of Bentley’snew 400bhp, twin-turbo 6.75-litre V8 engine. Modificationshave been made to the airboxes to allow them to packageunder the hood, while a largeralternator is fitted to cope withthe added demands of the elec-trical system. The capability ofrunning on liquid petroleum gas(LPG) will not only extend therange of the car but will alsoprovide reduced emissions.

An association with such ahigh profile vehicle programmeclearly has its own rewards forHickman and his team. “Ricardohas supported Bentley withpowertrain and chassis engi-neering services for manyyears, but it is particularly grati-fying to have been involved insuch a prestigious programme,”said Hickman. Designed for aminimum lifespan of 25 yearsand 125,000 miles, the BentleyState Limousine is expected tobe the Queen’s principal trans-port at state and ceremonialoccasions and will thereforebe a familiar sight well beyondthe end of the Golden Jubileecelebrations. ■

26 RICARDO NEWS Summer 2002Ricardo Quarterly Review

A State occasionRicardo has been a major partner to Bentley in a UK industryprogramme to develop a new State Limousine for the Queen

Her Majesty the Queeninspects the new Bentley

State Limousine (top)

Ricardo digital buck for underbonnet layout (right)

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When Volvo Car Corporation decided to develop a class-leading 5 cylinder diesel engine it naturally turned toRicardo for assistance. Our reputation for excellence inengineering and commitment to quality of service is knownthroughout the automotive industry. From concept toproduction we offer an unparalleled range of advancedtechnology and services. More than this, we have aninstinct for teamwork - particularly important in aprogramme that required us to work not only inpartnership with Volvo but alongside some of our principalcompetitors. The result speaks for itself - delivered inrecord time, the all-aluminium D5 diesel is a truly state-of-the-art engine and a key part of the Volvo product range.