Future-proofing with Continental Automotive's head of commercial and special vehicles
Posted: July 25, 2024
Georg Fässler is executive chair of SAE’s 2024 COMVEC event.
“It had always been my passion to create new stuff.” So said Continental Automotive’s head of commercial and special vehicles, Georg Fässler, in a recent interview with SAE International.
Create new stuff, indeed: with mobility’s rapidly shifting technological landscape, Fässler has become a sort of renaissance man, working with light- and heavy-duty vehicles, both on- and off-highway, to support some of the biggest developments industry has ever seen.
“There were never [as] many changes in the commercial vehicle industry than in the last ten years,” he said. “And probably even more coming in the next ten years.”
Software, everywhere
Fässler, who holds a Ph.D. in electromagnetic computation methods, launched his career by working on cell phones—“pretty small devices, opposite to trucks,” he said with a chuckle. But actually, he pointed out, the software isn’t all that different.
Much like cell phones, modern commercial vehicles heavily rely on integrated software for seamless functionality. “Integrating digital solutions and connectivity technologies is key to making commercial vehicles future proof,” he said.
Fässler pointed to the development of software-defined and autonomous commercial vehicles as the industry’s most exciting innovation today. However, the public’s unease towards this technology is no secret. As executive chair of SAE’s 2024 COMVEC event, in which software-defined vehicles will play a major role, Fässler believes in directly addressing uncertainty regarding automation to help mitigate concerns and build confidence.
“Public hesitation about completely driverless commercial vehicles is still common,” he said. “Events like COMVEC offer opportunities to showcase advancements, demonstrate the reliability and safety of autonomous systems, and communicate how these technologies can outperform human drivers in terms of safety.”
Continental is COMVEC’s executive host this year. With their exclusive partnership with Aurora Innovations, Inc., to deliver Aurora Driver, the world’s first scalable automotive-grade SAE level 4 autonomous driving system, few organizations are better suited to support North America’s leading commercial vehicle event during this pivotal moment in mobility’s evolution.
“SAE and COMVEC are crucial for Continental as they facilitate valuable exchanges among industry leaders, fostering the development of a common perspective on critical issues,” Fässler said. “For society, they help to create an understanding of future trends and their benefits—not only to the industry itself, but first and foremost to society at large, particularly in terms of safety and sustainability—thereby building trust.”
Public appeal
Alleviating autonomous anxiety isn’t the only task at hand. As climate change becomes harder to ignore, the transportation sector is under mounting pressure to improve its sustainability, and fast.
“There’s a significant shift toward electric commercial vehicles driven by environmental concerns and government regulations,” Fässler said. “And society is supporting the move towards slashing CO2 emissions.”
To get there, charging infrastructure needs to improve—both for passenger and commercial vehicles. According to Fässler, this means more (fast) charging stations, further standardization, and grid upgrades.
Vehicle range and the high costs of transitioning to a fully electric fleet are also considerable challenges that need to be addressed. Fässler indicated that governments and industry can, and should, work together to meet the public’s demand for positive change.
“Governments can play a significant role in accelerating the adoption of electric commercial vehicles through incentives such as subsidies, tax breaks, and grants for vehicle purchases and charging infrastructure installation,” he said. “Additionally, regulations such as emissions standards and zero-emission zones can incentivize fleet operators to switch to electric vehicles.”
One such regulation is the U.S. EPA’s recent final rule on greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles. Under this final rule, called “Phase 3” of the EPA’s greenhouse gas standards, heavy-duty vehicles beginning with models year 2027 must abide much stricter emissions guidelines—in some cases, up to 60% stronger than the Phase 2 regulations set forth in 2016.
“As the climate crisis intensifies, regulations that affect commercial vehicles will continue to increase, as they will in all sectors,” Fässler said.
Connection is for people, too
Last year, over 80% of COMVEC attendees had more than 11 years of industry experience, and over 77% make or influence purchasing decisions. Commercial vehicle professionals from around the world come to COMVEC to learn about the industry’s latest advances and showcase their own optimized solutions.
Fässler described the three-day conference as “the most important scientific exchange place, communication place,” where industry can discuss its latest trends and challenges.
One of the key characteristics of this SAE event is that it creates a forum for the open exchange of ideas between interested parties.
“You can have an open technical discussion with your peers and at the customer side, as well as [with] the whole industry, which is always good compared to other events where you simply do a presentation,” Fässler said.
Future commercial vehicles will be “permanently and seamlessly connected,” he predicted, which will enable new functions both within and outside of the vehicle, increasing safety, efficiency and comfort for the driver. In many ways, events like COMVEC do the same, but for people. By joining together thousands of decision-makers, researchers, fleet managers, and engineering professionals, COMVEC connects the greatest minds in the industry and inspires new functions across the commercial vehicle ecosystem.
As Fässler put it: “It’s a discussion with your other stakeholders, as well as with society.”
This blog originally appeared as an article in SAE Update. Check out this story in more in the July 2024 issue.