Bosch Automotive A product history

48 | Supplement 2 | Journal of Bosch History
Left:
Since 2010, Bosch has been supplying hybrid
drives to several automakers. They differ from
other concepts in being designed for conventional
vehicles with gasoline or diesel engines. The
picture shows a quality test on hybrid components.
Right:
The BMW 1602 Elektro. This car was used to
accompany long-distance races during the 1972
Munich Olympics. To protect the athletes from
harmful emissions, BMW converted the vehicle
to an electric drive. The 144-volt direct-current
motor from Bosch had an output rating of 32 kW
and enabled the car to reach speeds of up to
100 kph.
engine recharged the batteries. A concept
familiar from hybrid drives today – recovering
braking energy to charge the batteries –
was not yet integrated in the system. This
process – known as recuperation – had,
however, formed part of research activities
at Bosch since 1966. The technology was
first applied in the summer of 1979, in a
large-scale trial for hybrid buses featuring
combined diesel and electric drives.
Renaissance and breakthrough
Today, nearly four decades after Bosch
unveiled the first prototype, more and more
automakers are looking to produce vehicles
with hybrid drives. In view of the growing
environmental awareness among customers,
strict emissions legislation, and dwindling
raw materials, the spotlight is being
trained with ever greater intensity on alternatives
to the traditional internal-combustion
engine. The hybrid will, however, be a
transitional technology en route to an allelectric
car. The question as to when the
breakthrough of the all-electric drive will
come is inextricably linked with the further
development of battery technology. At
present, the costs still far outweigh the
benefits.
Future prospects
Hybrid projects with automotive customers
are one pillar of the company’s activities
for alternative drives. The first models made
by Volkswagen and Porsche are already in
series production. They feature a world
first – the “parallel strong hybrid.” In addition
to enabling all-electric operation, this
Bosch development with very sophisticated
control technology is also less complicated
than “power split” technology, which relies
on several electric motors and is the solution
favored in Japan and the U.S. For the
customer, this means lower fuel consumption
and lower emissions than with conventional
models. This is because, in this
hybrid model, most of the energy used for
all-electric driving over short distances is
recuperated during braking. On the other
hand, for customers who still need to
drive longer distances, this hybrid is still
equipped with a regular internal-combustion
engine.
Milestones
1967 1971 1973 1974 1988 1998
Presentation of
research on electric
automotive drives
Opel GT equipped
with Bosch electric
motors and power
electronics breaks
world records
Hybrid prototype
based on a Ford
Escort is unveiled
Large-scale trials
featuring all-electric
urban buses in
Mönchengladbach
Field test with
30 VW Golf hybrid
cars, equipped with
Bosch technology
Electronic components
developed for
Volkswagen’s “City
Stromer” test vehicle