Electrified Diesel Powertrains - Clean Air meets High Efficiency

Continuously tightened exhaust emission along with very challenging CO2 fleet emission limits represent major challenges for the entire transportation industry. Advanced, electrified powertrain concepts are seen as a major enabler to reduce CO2 emissions and to improve especially inner-city air quality. In this context, the combination of a modern, highly efficient Diesel engine with an appropriate electric assistance features an extremely efficient but also ultra-clean, environmentally friendly concept for future mobility.

In this contribution, various Diesel Hybrid powertrain concepts are presented, characterized and analysed with respect to added customer values, such as e.g. fun-to-drive, improved fuel efficiency, urban air quality and cost of ownership. The advanced propulsion systems are investigated for a representative, trendy SUV application, covering a wide range of different topologies, starting from a cost-effective 48V Mild Hybrid up to a powerful high voltage plug-In Hybrid. In a first step, the base Diesel engine and the corresponding exhaust gas aftertreatment system are optimized for each Hybrid configuration in order to minimize the cost impact of the electrical components. Then, the different configurations are evaluated in a detailed simulation study, assessing the functional performance in various test cycles.