The future-proof diesel engine for commercial vehicles, rail and industry

Project name

The future-proof diesel engine for commercial vehicles, rail and industry

Project duration

01.11.2015 - 31.12.2015

Brief description

A basic principle of our economy is undoubtedly the division of labour/specialization. The prerequisite for this is economically viable and ecologically compatible transportation of information, people and goods. In contrast to the transport of information/knowledge, which is essentially virtual via networking without physical transportation, both people and goods must also be transported as efficiently as possible "from A to B" in the future. A comparison of passenger and goods transportation performance with gross domestic product shows that the growth in goods transport is significantly and consistently higher than the increase in economic output. In contrast, passenger transport is developing roughly in proportion to gross domestic product. In principle, every form of transportation should be as energy-efficient, economical, resource-conserving, low-emission, flexible, safe, reliable and, last but not least, comfortable as possible. Taking into account the challenges of global warming, the availability of fossil resources and the protection of our environment, the transportation of the future must become more efficient, lower in emissions and more diversified in terms of energy sources. In the area of individual passenger transportation, i.e. passenger cars, the focus is on the (partial) electrification of the drive train. The particular efficiency of this approach results from the typical usage profile of passenger cars, which, due to its relatively low engine load, rarely allows the combustion engine to be operated at maximum efficiency.
In contrast, goods are transported by vehicles whose engines are subjected to significantly higher loads in practice and are operated closer to maximum efficiency on average. A comparable potential for increasing the efficiency of the drivetrain as in passenger cars is not possible through (partial) electrification in the area of freight transport (truck, rail). As a result of this fact and the growing importance of freight transport, solutions must be found to make the diesel engine "fit for the future".

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