Electric Vehicles: Disruptive Technology in Automotive

A traditional mid-sized car run for 100,000 miles produces approximately 24 million g CO2 over its entire operation. A SUV class vehicle with 100,000 miles produces approximately 43 million g CO2 over its entire operation. Growing concerns around carbon dioxide and other associated emissions including particulates, raise the necessity to adopt to new eco-friendly sustainable alternatives to the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

Clean mobility has always been a crucial theme for Bosch. For decades, Bosch has continuously developed components to make the internal combustion engine ever more efficient. Now, we are working towards building e-mobility solutions for a sustainable future.

At Bosch, we understand that environmental impacts of conventional vehicles can no more be neglected. With global warming and climatic shifts on the rise, we have already started experiencing ecological imbalances such as frequent floods, extreme storms, higher sea-levels, disturbed water system and more. Moreover, toxic pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and lead can undermine human health resulting several diseases including cancer and unwanted genetic mutations. Switching to electric vehicles may be one of the wisest choices we have in terms of transportation. Bosch spends around 400 million euros each year on driving e-mobility forward. India is an important market for us and needs to be looked at independently for several reasons.

Why is Electrification a Pressing need for India?

In India, the transport sector alone accounts for 18 % of the total energy consumption. If the current consumption trend continues, it requires approximately 200 million tonnes of oil equivalent of energy by 2030. With the current oil import cost of USD ~111.9 billion, such huge demand may be excessively exorbitant in future. Additionally, India ranks number 3 in total global CO2 emission with 6.8% of the global share. India is home to 14 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world. Considering human impact, India ranks the highest (2.51 million per year) in number of deaths due to pollution. These factors are alarming enough to urge for a shift towards clean mobility solutions.

A Unique Mobility Landscape

Even though India is operating in the same global scenario as the other countries, it has a unique mobility pattern not shared by many countries. Indian automotive market is characterised by ~79% of 2 wheelers, 4% of 3 wheelers, 14% of passenger cars and 3% of commercial vehicles. Such prevalence of small vehicles creates an opportunity for India to take leadership role in electrification of those segments. Some challenges for Indian markets are the huge cost of ownership of EVs and evolving technology, especially in Battery systems where more field results are to be seen for reaching the robustness at par with conventional vehicles.

The Solution Lies within the Country

We know that India is gifted with relative abundance of exploitable renewable energy resources which can be effectively utilised in powering Electric Vehicles. Additional enablers supporting green mobility transition include high availability of skilled manpower and development of technology in manufacturing and engineering software sectors. During COVID-19 lockdown impositions, many cities in India witnessed the vanishing of smog, clearer sky, better environment and better air quality. Sustaining this could be possible by switching to clean-green energy EVs.

With well-set Government policies and ongoing disruption in EV market, India is on track toward electrification. However, the shift can be accelerated if we address the impending challenges and leverage possible opportunities.

EV: A Disruptive Product

Bosch has always been a pioneer in bringing disruptive technologies to the market. Any disruptive product or a service, creates a new market and significantly weakens existing product or solution. In EV domain, following are the key factors that fuels the disruption.

• EV fuel and maintenance costs are about 10 times cheaper than ICE
• EVs are about 5 times more efficient than ICE
• The cost of technology for Li-ion battery is decreasing year after year
• Charging at home rather than fuel station is a possibility
• EV need to be charged from renewable energy sources. Power from solar is already cheaper than thermal power. Additional disruption is happening in the field of power generation and distribution, where centralized generation system is being transformed into localised system powered by renewable energy sources. Convergence of all these technologies can be a potential enabler for EV disruption

What BOSCH is doing globally?

Hybrids and EVs are expected to be approximately 40% of total vehicles by 2030. With its various energy-efficient powertrain solutions for different categories- from 2 wheelers to passenger cars to commercial vehicles, from Hybrids to BEVs and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles, Bosch is pace-setter for this ambition.

With its drives and drive control units for light electric vehicles, we are reinventing the technology for safe and efficient riding experience. Bundled as a drive system, the optimally coordinated interaction of both components ensures precise motor management, reliable vehicle performance, and impressive torque development. The components can be easily integrated in different vehicle configurations and offer a cost-attractive electric drive solution.

In addition to its 2-Wheeler product portfolio, Bosch has several offerings including electric machines, inverters, CharCON, DC-DC converters, Vehicle control unit (VCU) and battery management systems for passenger and commercial vehicle segment. Electric axle (eAxle), which is a compact pack of electric machine, power electronics and gear, has been one of the most innovative product for passenger and commercial vehicle segment. Our future oriented research has resulted in expansion to Fuel cell domain as well with the fuel cell control units (FCCU) being a superior, innovative product in the FC domain.

Aside from the disruptive products that can be game-changers for the industry, Bosch also has an established expertise in system engineering solutions like rolling chassis or e-platform for all integration levels. With huge investments in EV research and development, Bosch is well positioned to offer products and end-to-end solutions, thereby supporting the incumbent OEMs, start-ups and disruptors for creating a global impact.