Automotive Research and Consultancy WHITE PAPER

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1 Automotive Research and Consultancy WHITE PAPER e-mobility Revolution With ARC CVTh

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3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 5 Hybrid Vehicle Market Overview 6 Brief Analysis of Today s Hybrid Technologies 8 Challenges in the Growth of Hybrid Vehicles Market 9 Success Drivers for Global Hybrid Market Dominance 11 Introducing ARC CVTh 12 e-mobility Revolution with ARC CVTh 13 Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 3 of 16

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5 Introduction There is significant amount of research and development that is being carried out in the field of hybrid vehicles across the world. The challenges of making hybrid vehicles a success are multifold. Developing a hybrid vehicle is an extremely complex task involving integration of fuel engines, electric motors and battery technologies. The complexities are further increased since the electric motors differ significantly in their characteristics from conventional fuel engines and integrating the two is much more complex. In addition to the technical challenges the consumer behavior and preference are even more complex problems to solve. Moreover, the government agencies are setting up new guidelines and regulations in order to control the pollution in order to ensure a sustainable future for the mankind. The governments across the world are setting new standards and benchmarks which automakers are required to adhere to. The automakers are thrown in the mix to solve these problems on multiple fronts. This white paper discusses in detail, the key issues affecting growth of the hybrid vehicles. The objective of this white paper is to provide the context of current hybrid vehicle market, its variety of technologies, their success and limitations in detail. This is a concise document providing a conclusive analysis of current hybrid technology, its problems and solutions. The white paper will provide a strategic directive to overcome the above mentioned limitations and challenges. It introduces the perfect-fit technology ARC CVTh to conquer the fast growing hybrid vehicle market. Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 5 of 16

6 Hybrid Vehicle Market Overview The development and commercial production of hybrid vehicles started as early as Since then the hybrid vehicle market share has grown at a very slow pace. Most of today s hybrid vehicles are sold in Japan, US, EU and followed by rest of the world. Figure 1: Share of Hybrid Market by Country / Region In Japan, 20% of the total light duty vehicles (LDVs) sold are hybrids. Hence its safe to say that hybrids are slowly going mainstream in Japan. But that s not the case with rest of the world. In US the hybrid market share is below 4% while specifically in California its slightly better. And its interesting to note that even after two decades of development, the hybrid market share in US and many countries is far less as compared to the total sales of the LDVs. Percentagewise the US hybrid market is smaller than Japan but considering its volume, it has its significance. In European countries the hybrid vehicles market share is under 4% with only exception of Netherlands. But this is mainly due to the government policies promoting the hybrid vehicles over the conventional fuel based vehicles. A detailed look at US hybrid market and its analysis provides lot of insight in terms of the companies and their technologies which dominate the sale of hybrid vehicles in US as well as in rest of the world. Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 6 of 16

7 The next chart shows the hybrid market share data of US in This market share data throws more light on the market dynamics, consumer preferences and technology innovation. Figure 2: Year 2014 Hybrid Market Share ( Source: hybridcars.com As seen from the chart above, the market share of hybrid vehicles with Power Split Devices leads at 80% of the overall hybrid vehicles market in the US. The success of PSD based hybrids in US is emphasized by the current statistics, however this fact alone can not be treated as the proof point of its absolute success. The PSD based hybrids have gained popularity in US for the primary reason that the US vehicle market is dominated by gasoline based engines rather than the diesel engines. But the same is not the case in other parts of the world. The PSD based hybrid vehicles have not seen the equal amount of success in European market where the diesel powered vehicles have more than 50% market share. This is due to the fact that diesel powered vehicles can deliver significant fuel savings over their gasoline counterparts. Hence PSD based hybrid system is not the ultimate answer yet. In recent years, as a parallel approach to PSD based hybrid systems, another technology emerged which uses single electric motor with traditional transmission. Its a parallel hybrid system with two clutches hence called P2 hybrid system. It uses two clutches to separate the fuel engine, electric motor and the transmission from each other. Even though P2 is slightly more adaptable than the PSD, this system also comes with its own challenges and limitations. Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 7 of 16

8 Brief Analysis of Today s Hybrid Technologies For the analysis of today s hybrid systems, this paper focuses on the most popular hybrid technologies which are PSD and P2 hybrids. Input Power Split Device (PSD): This is built by using a simple planetary gear to achieve three fixed gear ratios between the conventional gasoline engine, electric motor generator and the traction motor connected to the drivetrain. The key focus of the development of this hybrid system is to improve upon the fuel efficiency during the city driving. However as far as the highway driving is concerned, there is limited improvement in the mileage with this system. The drawback of this mechanism is that it requires two electric motors to function, out of which one electric motor needs to be sufficiently large enough to build enough torque at low and medium speeds. It requires a significantly large battery pack to drive the vehicle since it can not be run on conventional fuel engine alone. This results in higher cost of the vehicle to the consumers. In spite of these odds, through consistent research and development, the vehicles with PSD based hybrid design have gained as much as 80% share of the hybrid market in US. Parallel hybrid with two clutches (P2): This is a simple parallel hybrid with two clutches. One clutch is in between the fuel engine and the electric motor and the second clutch between the electric motor and the transmission. This design uses single electric motor. This system is a bit more flexible and has wider application since it can be integrated with different types and sizes of conventional fuel engines as well as different sizes of electric motors. The drawback of this mechanism is that the traditional transmission is used as it is, without any changes or improvements. As a result, this system does not provide any gearing ratio between the fuel engine and the electric motor resulting in less efficient integration between the two. The key deterrent of this technology is its limited adaptability to mix and match different types of fuel engines with different types of electric motors since there is a vast variety of electric motors with varied performance characteristics. However in spite of these challenges, this system is gaining a slow popularity due to relatively lesser acquisition cost to the consumer. Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 8 of 16

9 Challenges in the Growth of Hybrid Vehicles Market The hybrid vehicle market is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. IEA (International Energy Agency) suggested a roadmap for the automotive industry and especially for the development of light duty vehicles for the next 35 years. It is evident from IEA s projections that the conventional fuel engine vehicles will gradually phase out and the overall vehicle market will be dominated by hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The timings of these projections are particularly quite significant. We know that the hybrid vehicles market share today is much lesser than the conventional fuel vehicles but ultimately by 2050 it is expected that the conventional vehicles will completely phase out. Hence the decade of is most crucial since all the technologies and products developed in this decade will set the stage for future years. And if the right set of technologies are developed within this decade then the hybrid technology will rule the automotive market for next 20 years. IEA goes even further to suggest how this ultimate goal of 2050 can be realized and where the automobile companies need to focus and invest. It is concluded that the automobile companies need to launch the hybrid versions of all their models. Expected Growth in Number of Models by 2020 As per IEA, providing the choice to consumers is the key to success. More the choice to consumers, more is the switch from conventional fuel vehicles to hybrid vehicles. The reason why this factor is so important is that unless the consumers have enough hybrid choices and unless they choose hybrids over conventional fuel vehicles, the hybrid revolution will never take off. Unfortunately, at the exit of 2015 there are still very limited models of hybrid and EV vehicles available to consumers. Hence hybrid models need to grow exponentially by the year This is the only way to lay Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 9 of 16

10 down a strong foundation of hybrid revolution for following 30 years which will dominate the automobile market till Today due to lack of universal hybrid technology, transforming all conventional drivetrains into hybrid drivetrains is a huge and complex task. Hence automobile companies end up investing into multiple system or they eventually choose between PSD or P2 based technology for their hybrid vehicle development. While PSD is more beneficial to the market dominated by gasoline engines, the P2 is more adaptable for diesel dominated market. Unfortunately, neither of these technologies is the ultimate answer to achieve the hybrid revolution. Hence its very difficult to know which of these technologies will lead the other in global market and not just in US and European market. This becomes a major limiting factor for the automobile companies in their expansion into global hybrid market. An ultimate answer has to be found for this problem and hence a universal technology must be developed in order to achieve the desired success and to realize the future of hybrid revolution. The automotive industry is in need of a hybrid system which is universal in nature, can seamlessly integrate with gasoline and diesel engines, deliver required power and fuel efficiency and overcome all the limitations of the existing technologies. Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 10 of 16

11 Success Drivers for Global Hybrid Market Dominance Reduction in cost, weight and complexity of hybrid systems: The primary roadblock in the growth of hybrid vehicles is the vehicle acquisition cost to the consumer. Today the hybrid vehicles cost is impacted by multiple factors, ranging from number and sizes of electric motors, the size of required fuel engine, size and weight of battery pack, complexity of transmission and drivetrain, the required R&D efforts, etc. Today the automobile industry needs a solution to address all of these concerns in order to make major breakthrough in hybrid revolution. Universal hybrid transmission and drive train: This is the most important factor having major impact on the success in hybrid vehicle market. Applicability / adaptability of the hybrid transmission system to integrate with different fuel engines and electric motors is a critical factor for the success. Today neither PSD nor P2 is able to achieve this universal design status for hybrid vehicles. Leverage upon the developments in power electronics: There is tremendous growth in the fields of electronics, battery systems and electric motors. If all of that development needs to be utilized to the advantage of hybrid vehicles, then todays approach of PSD or P2 based hybrids is not going to be sufficient enough. A significant break through is needed which can integrate more and more types of electric motors into hybrid vehicle. Flexible hybrid system to adapt to diesel and gasoline engines: The key to success in global hybrid market is to have a single hybrid technology which can seamlessly integrate with gasoline engine a well as diesel engine. The torque and power characteristics of both these fuel engines are quite different and this poses the challenge of best utilizing their power for both driving and battery charging function in a hybrid vehicle. Wide choice for consumers: Different types of consumers have different requirements which can not be met by single combination of electric motors and fuel engines. Consumers should be offered multiple options to choose from. These options should not be limited to the safety features and a choice of Diesel vs Gasoline engine. The automakers need to offer the choice to consumers with multiple types of hybrid variants for their various vehicle models available in the market so that consumers can choose the right type of hybrid variant which suits their travel needs. Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 11 of 16

12 Introducing ARC CVTh ARC CVTh is the next generation hybrid transmission system. It incorporates performance enhancing and efficiency improving technologies. ARC CVTh is designed to overcome the limitations of existing hybrid systems. ARC CVTh is a Multi-Input, Multi-Output and Multi-Geared Hybrid CVT. It brings various innovations for the first time to the automotive industry. The ARC CVTh can handle multiple input power sources such as conventional petrol, diesel or other fuel engines, one or more electric motors, etc. and all these power sources can be driven at different RPMs at any vehicle speed. This allows the fuel engine to run at its own RPM to produce maximum torque while the electric motor is run at its own RPM range to produce maximum torque simultaneously. This provides limitless permutations and combinations where different engines and motors can be independently driven at their best RPM range. The ARC CVTh provides multiple outputs on multiple shafts. It can integrate torque from single power source or multiple power sources and drive towards multiple output shafts. Due to this unique feature, it functions as 4x4 and AWD system and does not require a separate 4x4 gearbox. The 4x4 function offered can work seamlessly with single power source or multiple power sources, hence it can function with fuel engine alone (and does not require battery charge for its 4x4 and AWD operation.) It can also apply different gear variations across these multiple outputs. Thus ARC CVTh offers a very flexible and capable 4x4 function. The ARC CVTh can deliver multiple gears between these multiple inputs and multiple outputs. There are different set of gears applied between fuel engine and wheels, different gears are applied between the electric motor and the wheels and different gears are applied between fuel engine and electric motors. Moreover, these multiple gears can be varied independently under different driving conditions. This is the most important feature offered by ARC CVTh which is never achieved before in the automotive industry. Another big benefit is that all these gears are Continuously Variable Gears. With these unique features, the ARC CVTh becomes the most versatile and sophisticated hybrid system till date which can seamlessly integrate with multiple types of fuel engines and electric motors. The ARC CVTh can integrate with these power sources even if they are significantly different in their torque and power characteristics. Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 12 of 16

13 e-mobility Revolution with ARC CVTh There are many unique features of ARC CVTh which can bring a Global Hybrid Revolution. Built-in and Improved Power Split Device Function (PSD): The vehicles built with ARC CVTh do not require a separate dedicated power split device. It can engage different gears simultaneously for fuel engine and electric motors and allows these two power sources to spin at different RPMs. While these power sources are running at different RPMs, ARC CVTh can seamlessly integrate their torque and provide the output to the wheels. ARC CVTh : A Flexible Hybrid System: ARC CVTh is a revolutionary transmission which can be integrated with conventional gasoline, diesel or other fuel engines as well as wide range of electric motors. With this technology, the vehicles with other fuel sources such as flex fuel, CNG, etc. can also be converted into their hybrid versions. In this way it offers tremendous flexibility. Improving the Diesel Hybrid Performance: Diesel engines or similar turbo powered engines deliver higher amount of torque at relatively lower RPMs compared to traditional gasoline engines. In case of gasoline engines there is torque deficiency at low speed (RPM) whereas the diesel engines do not have such torque deficiencies. It is due to this fact that today s hybrid technology improves the efficiency of gasoline engines significantly but it does not improve the efficiency of diesel hybrid vehicles in equal proportions. The ARC CVTh changes this equation by providing multiple gears between diesel engine, drive wheels and electric motor. The ARC CVTh significantly improves the performance of diesel hybrids. This is achievable since it best utilizes the high torque low RPM characteristics of the diesel engine by intelligently splitting the torque towards driving and charging function. This is especially useful when the vehicle is stationary or while the vehicle is cruising at constant speed. In such conditions, maximum torque of diesel engine is diverted towards charging and very less torque is applied to drive wheels. It ensures very fast charging of batteries due to high torque of diesel engines and improves the overall efficiency of diesel hybrids. Improving Brake Energy Regeneration: Brake energy regeneration can be greatly improved with ARC CVTh since it offers multiple gear ratios between drive wheels and the electric motor. This provides options to create different amounts of load using electric motor at different vehicle speeds. The technology also helps in utilizing the maximum braking energy towards recharging of the batteries irrespective of Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 13 of 16

14 whether the mechanical brakes are applied. This is possible since much higher speed is achieved for generator motor at various speeds of the vehicle. Improved Performance and Efficiency: The ARC CVTh not only improves the performance by intelligently integrating the torque but also improves the fuel efficiency by intelligently splitting the fuel engine torque towards driving and charging function. Hence the ARC CVTh performs better than today s PSD technology. All Weather Hybrid with Integrated 4x4 Capability: The ARC CVTh offers the integrated 4x4 Full Time AWD functionality which is extremely important for designing and manufacturing the hybrid SUVs. As a standard feature, every transmission built with ARC CVTh technology can have 4x4 function without adding extra gears or without the need for a separate 4x4 gearbox. The 4x4 Full Time AWD functionality is completely independent of the electric motors and the 4x4 operation can work with fuel engine alone. Universal Applicability of ARC CVTh : With the unique features and versatility of ARC CVTh it has global market appeal. It is compatible with different fuel engines and different hybrids (such as mild hybrids, full or plug-in hybrids, etc.) as well as different types of vehicles. Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 14 of 16

15 Being a universal hybrid transmission system, the ARC CVTh can operate in multiple modes of operation such as series hybrid, parallel hybrid and series - parallel hybrid. Also it can switch between these modes completely on-the-fly during the operation of the vehicle. Summary: Technology Excellence of ARC CVTh The table below summarizes the unique advantages of this new technology compared with existing PSD (Power Split Device) and P2 system. Basis this comparison with respect to the key parameters that are critical for hybrid and electric vehicles, the ARC CVTh technology stands out with many unique characteristics. ARC CVTh is a versatile technology and it can seamlessly integrate with different sizes of fuel engines. Hence it can be used to build small hybrid cars with smaller capacity engines as well big hybrid SUVs with large sized engines. Also different consumers prefer vehicles with different types of fuel engines, such as gasoline, diesel, CNG, flex-fuel, etc. ARC CVTh is a universal technology that is compatible with all types of fuel engines. As a result, more and more consumers will switch from the conventional fuel vehicles towards the hybrid vehicles leading to a GLOBAL HYBRID REVOLUTION. Automotive Research and Consultancy Page 15 of 16

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