Autoblog

In the future, we'll eat all our meals from toothpaste tubes, everyone will be beautiful and healthy, and we won't need cars, what with the proliferation of nuclear-powered jet packs. Prediction is such thorny business, though Toyota isn't making such a fantastical claim by suggesting that each of its vehicles will have a hybrid option available by 2020. Wired's blog seems to agree that by 2020, hybrids will have proliferated like rabbits, and we'll be awash in electron propulsion systems.

We still feel a little cheated that eight years into the 21st century, we still don't have all those things promised to us fifty years ago, but at least automakers are hard at work pushing alternative systems toward viability. Justin Ward, a manager at the Toyota Technical Center overseeing advanced powertrain programs, told a Management Briefing Seminar in Traverse city that work continues on fuel cells to overcome challenges like climate extremes and range. Battery technology, too, will continue to advance, making the current Hybrid Synergy Drive even more efficient. Toyota is still holding off on diesels, and plug-ins present some issues when you consider where that electricity is generated, so it's looking like Toyota will continue to develop its fuel cell technology for the long term and bolster its hybrid offerings in the near future.

[Source: Auto News - sub req. Photo: itd.idaho.gov]

The Bosch Group and the Getrag Group announced Tuesday that they will partner to develop and market parallel hybrid systems to provide a near-turnkey hybrid solution to automakers.

In a parallel hybrid solution, the electric motor is fitted directly into the power flow of the drivetrain. Under the terms of the partnership, Bosch will handle the electrical systems and power electronics, while Getrag will supply its dual-clutch transmission technology. The companies plan to jointly develop final-drive units with directly integrated electric motors. Bosch already has subsystems off the shelf for hybrid powertrains, and is well advanced in developing electric motors that can be directly integrated into a vehicle's powertrain (as shown in the cutaway model at right).

Once off the shelf hybrid systems are available, we can expect even small automakers to be able to offer hybrid models without prohibitively time-consuming and expensive product development. Bosch and Getrag estimate that their hybrid systems will allow automakers to realize fuel savings of up to 20 percent (using the European fuel economy test cycle) over gasoline-only drive systems.

The Getrag Group is the world's largest independent transmission manufacturer in the world, while Bosch is the world's largest auto parts supplier.

[Sources: Bosch, Getrag]