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The regulations for mobile applications will become stricter in Euro 6 and further emission levels and require the use of active aftertreatment methods for NOX and particulate matter. SCR and LNT have been both used commercially for mobile NOX removal. An alternative system is based on the combination of these two technologies. Developments of catalysts and whole systems as well as final vehicle demonstrations are discussed in this study. The small and full-size catalyst development experiments resulted in PtRh/LNT with optimized noble metal loadings and Cu-SCR catalyst having a high durability and ammonia adsorption capacity. For this study, an aftertreatment system consisting of LNT plus exhaust bypass, passive SCR and engine independent reductant supply by on-board exhaust fuel reforming was developed and investigated. The concept definition considers NOX conversion, CO2 drawback and system complexity.

With the increasing popularity of seamless gear changing and smooth driving experience along with the need for high fuel efficiency, transmission system development has rapidly increased in complexity. So too has transmission control software while quality requirements are high and time-to-market is short. As a result, extensive testing and documentation along with quick and efficient development methods are required. FEV responds to these challenges by developing and integrating a transmission software product line with an automated verification and validation process according to the concept of Continuous Integration (CI). Hence, the following paper outlines a software architecture called “PERSIST” where complexity is reduced by a modular architecture approach. Additionally, modularity enables testability and tracking of quality defects to their root cause.

Powertrain software development for series production faces multifaceted challenges related to high functional complexity, high quality standards, reduced time to market and high development costs. Software architecture tackles the above mentioned challenges by breaking down the complexity of application software into modular components. Hence, design errors introduced during that phase cause significant cost and time deviations. Early and repeated analysis of new and modified architecture artifacts is required to detect design errors and the impact of the subsequent changes in the software architecture. Engine management software has a high degree of functional complexity and large number of system variants depending upon market requirements. This paper deals with the methods to perform automated evaluation of Renault’s EMS 2012 Engine Management Software in a Continuous Integration Framework.

The definition of vehicle and powertrain level targets is one of the first tasks toward establishing where a vehicle will reside with respect to the current or future state of industry. Though development of sound quality metrics is ongoing to better correlate objective data with subjective assessments, target setting at the vehicle level is relatively straightforward. However, realization of these targets depends on effective cascading to system and component levels. Often, component level targets are derived based on experience from earlier development programs, or based on selected characteristics observed during component level benchmarking. An approach is presented here to complement current strategies for component level target definition. This approach involves a systematic concept for definition of component NVH targets based on desired vehicle level performance and a consequent target break down.

Downsizing in combination with turbocharging currently represents the main technology trend for meeting CO2 emissions with gasoline engines. Besides the well-known advantages of downsizing the compression ratio has to be reduced in order to mitigate knock at higher engine loads along with increased turbocharging demand to compensate for the reduction in power. Another disadvantage occurs at part load with increasing boost pressure levels causing the part load efficiencies to deteriorate. The application of a variable compression ratio (VCR) system can help to mitigate these disadvantages. The 2-stage VCR system with variable kinetic lengths entails variable powertrain components which can be used instead of the conventional components and thus only require minor modifications for existing engine architectures. The presented variable length connecting rod system has been continuously developed over the past years.

Electrification is a key enabler to reduce emissions levels and noise in commercial vehicles. With electrification, Batteries are being used in commercial hybrid vehicles like city buses and trucks for kinetic energy recovery, boosting and electric driving. A battery management system monitors and controls multiple components of a battery system like cells, relays, sensors, actuators and high voltage loads to optimize the performance of a battery system. This paper deals with the development of modular control architecture for battery management systems in commercial vehicles. The key technical challenges for software development in commercial vehicles are growing complexity, rising number of functional requirements, safety, variant diversity, software quality requirements and reduced development costs. Software architecture is critical to handle some of these challenges early in the development process.

The decision to leapfrog from the Bharat Stage (BS) IV emission standards directly to the BS VI standards not only effects passenger and commercial vehicles but also India’s by far largest vehicle class, with regards to sales and production, the two-wheelers. The BS VI norm will not only tighten the emission standards, but it will also increase the required emission mileage level and upgrade the On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) requirements, also by introducing In-Use Monitor Performance Ratio (IUMPR) standards. While OBD was already introduced for passenger and commercial vehicles with BS IV in 2010, OBD will be then newly introduced for two-wheelers. The OBD system monitors the vehicle’s in-use emission performance, informs the driver via the malfunction indication light (MIL) on the dashboard in case of an emission relevant failure, standardises the diagnostic code handling and regulates a standardised access to the electronic control units (ECUs) for maintenance and inspection purposes.

Ensuring software quality is one of the key challenges associated with the development of automotive embedded systems. Software architecture plays a pivotal role in realizing functional and non-functional requirements for automotive embedded systems. Software architecture is a work-product of the early stages of software development. The design errors introduced at the early stages of development will increase cost of rework. Hence, an early evaluation of software architecture is important. PERSIST (Powertrain control architecture Enabling Reusable Software development for Intelligent System Tailoring) is a model-based software product line approach which focuses on cross-project standardization of powertrain software. The product line is characterized by common design guidelines and adherence to industry standards like ISO 25010, AUTOSAR and ISO 26262.