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CUSTOMERS & MARKETS Driver cabins for Scania’s new truck generation
TRENDS & TECHNOLOGIES Modular component for the battery system: the lithium-ion cell
ENGINEERING INSIGHTS Basics and success factors of the V8 engine ISSUE 1/ 2017
PRECISE.
Digital solutions for the vehicle of the future
www.porsche-engineering.com
More km/h.
And more kbit/s.
Panamera E-Hybrid Models: Fuel consumption (in l/100 km) combined 2.9–2.5; CO2 emissions combined 66–56 g/km;
electricity consumption: combined in 16.2–15.9 kWh/100km
Dirk Lappe and Malte Radmann, Dear Readers,
Managing Directors of Porsche Engineering
Sincerely,
Malte Radmann and Dirk Lappe
34 40 48
10 Forward-Looking and Safe 26 In the Fast Lane 44 Under One Roof
New requirements caused by New truck cabin generation Vehicle concept development in the
driver assistance systems for Scania context of changing mobility
Technological trends and devel- Porsche Engineering’s software There’s a new addition to the For-
opments, news from the international location in Cluj-Napoca has success- mula Student movement: the new driver-
Porsche Engineering locations and cur- fully reached its latest growth targets. less construction competition is dedicat-
rent job openings: with Porsche Engi- Development work in Cluj-Napoca fo- ed to the development of autonomous
neering’s new corporate profiles on cuses on issues concerning the digitali- race cars. The University of Stuttgart is
Facebook and LinkedIn, customers, zation of vehicles and electromobility. once again entering a team in the com-
partners, employees and fans can fol- Further growth is planned for the years petition and will be supported by Porsche
low the latest developments from the to come in order to meet the rising de- Engineering. Like the GreenTeam for
engineering services provider. The pro- mand for function and software devel- electric driving already sponsored by
files can be accessed via the search term opment. Recently launched in coopera- Porsche Engineering, the formed student
“Porsche Engineering” or using the QR tion with the Technical University in group will receive advice from Porsche
codes below. ■ Cluj, the Automotive Engineering pro- engineers in the development process
gram at the university will promote the and receive access to test benches. The
long-term expansion of the location. ■ new team will participate in Formula
Student races for the first time at the
Hockenheimring in August 2017. ■
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Driver continuously Driver continuously Driver must monitor Driver does not need Driver is not required System performs
performs the performs the the dynamic driving to monitor dynamic during defined use the lateral and
longitudinal and longitudinal or task and the driving driving and driving case. longitudinal
lateral dynamic lateral dynamic environment at all environment; must dynamic driving
driving task. driving task. times. always be in a position task in all situations
to resume control. encountered
System performs during the entire
the lateral and journey. No driver
longitudinal dynamic required.
From highly automated to autonomous driving Validation of highly and fully automated systems
Highly automated driving (level 4) differs from autonomous Due to the huge variety of possible driving situations,
driving (level 5) in that autonomous driving signifies complete the validation of highly and fully automated systems ›
The advantage of simulations lies in the fast and reproducible To allow driver assistance functions that use predictive route
validation of the implemented functions. In other words, all data (PSD) as their data basis to be tested on non-public test
pre-defined test scenarios can be tested cheaply and quickly. grounds, the grounds need first to be digitally mapped. In
The figure below shows a virtual, simulated environment. doing so, for example, information on route progressions,
applicable speed limits, number of lanes or the precise posi-
As simulations can only generate a more or less realistic rep- tions of traffic signs must be recorded. In current Porsche
resentation of reality, it is indispensable to conduct validation vehicles, this information is already available through
on testing grounds and, ultimately, in real-life traffic situa- the navigation database, enabling a preview of static route
tions as well. attributes such as a speed limit that comes into effect in
200 meters.
In addition to localization in terms of the absolute and relative One solution approach is to test extracts from the simulation
vehicle position, localization within a dynamic environment in the real testing environment. To achieve this, the robotic
must also be possible. Dynamic test objects or other test par- vehicles used as environmental traffic participants must be
ticipants could communicate with each other on the testing centrally controllable in accordance with the scenarios dic-
grounds via a full-coverage Wi-Fi or Internet-capable mobile tated by the simulation. The appropriate driving maneuvers
network. At the same time, this would also create the funda- are selected for each test objective. The basis is a driving
mental prerequisite for testing connected car services as well maneuver catalog containing a large number of globally rel-
as a basis for the networking of all static test objects. The evant scenarios. Many of the driving maneuvers are taken
precondition for this is that the test environment of the testing from real test environments. Test vehicles are equipped with
grounds already have a controllable and communication-ca- extensive environmental sensor technology that records the
pable infrastructure. Light control systems or other interactive traffic activity in the immediate vicinity. For the test proce-
test objects must be capable of functioning in accordance with dure, these stored driving scenarios are “run” on specially
the requirements of the test scenario. In traffic scenarios, designed testing grounds. The originally recorded vehicle
which need to be represented highly realistically, additional environment, i.e. the traffic participants moving relative to
controlled pedestrian or cyclist dummies could be used. the test vehicle, is represented by the centrally remote-con-
trolled robotic vehicles. In principle, this method can be used
to cover scenarios relevant in various customer markets.
Highest enhancement level: simulated city
The demands placed on the robotic vehicles are high. Each
The combination of all of the testing grounds enhancement machine must be capable of safe conduct, i.e. designed with
described thus far leads to a highly flexible, actually drivable redundancy, while at the same time having the capability ›
Display of vehicle
state and environment
Vehicle movement
coordinator
Longitudinal
Lateral control
control
Gateway
1 2
Acceleration
Steering FR-FR GW 3 4
Deceleration
Networking architecture for
reproducible driving trials
1 Engine 2 Transmission
3 Brakes 4 Steering wheel
to independently transition to a safe state in case of error (see With this approach, recorded measurements can also be au-
figure on top of page 15). tomated and reproducibly driven. Development steps become
identifiable and improvements measurable. Moreover, an
The efficient testing of partially and highly automated func- elementary development condition is fulfilled: the reproduc-
tions must be based on mature tool chains. Only tools that can ibility of tests for the detection of error causes.
control and also measure the complex test conditions will be
up to the task of handling the ever more multifaceted scenar- Taking into account the vehicle environment sensor technol-
ios that will emerge in the future. In the defined test maneuver ogy, additional sensors and user input, trajectory planning
catalogs for the validation of new software and functional and decisions for collision-free driving are made on the
states, the comparability of test procedures is essential. Because NVIDIA Drive PX 2 computing platform.
many advanced driver assistance systems, such as adaptive
cruise control (ACC), are dependent on the behavior of other
traffic participants, robot vehicles are required. The automa- Reliability for robotic and series vehicles
tion of the robot vehicles makes it possible to achieve the high-
est possible degree of reproducibility of the test maneuvers. As the complexity and degree of automation rise, so do the
requirements in terms of reliability. This affects automation
To influence the longitudinal and lateral control of the vehicle, levels 3 to 5 and applies equally to robotic vehicles used in
corresponding driver assistance interfaces are brought to bear. the validation of assistance functions and to the development
ACC is suitable for the longitudinal direction and lane keep- of the series function. It is essential to establish redundancy
ing support (LKS) for the lateral direction. This requires an in the sensing capability and the control apparatus so that
adaptation of the vehicle architecture. For signal manipula- the vehicle can be transferred to a safe state in critical situa-
tion purposes, FlexRay-FlexRay gateways (FR-FR GW) are tions. This “emergency maneuver” state is activated through
inserted into the vehicle FlexRay branches. These additional a trigger based on various different incidents. These include
interfaces enable manipulation of individual control unit sig- system component failure, or—in a real situation—the un-
nals (ECU) through triggering. This enables intervention on availability of the driver after a certain retrieval time or
the signal level without changing the actual vehicle functions. through the observation of the driver (such as falling asleep
LAYER 4 Monitoring of
Driving into safe state Collision avoidance …
Safety level system components
LAYER 2
GatewayTTX Connexion Longitudinal and lateral control
Control level
Digitalization is the word on everyone’s lips these days— industry, adjust our speed and think beyond where we are
how do you define it? today—beyond the vehicle as we have known it to date. That
is the overall digital experience perceived by the customer.
Dr. Rolf Zöller Digitalization is long since commonplace in
vehicles. That’s been the case since the 1990s. Today it’s almost Bischoff Precisely these two components, the internal and
exclusively digital and networked systems on board. What’s external, are essential for our future success: digital internal
new is that the vehicle now communicates with the outside processes that enable an unparalleled customer user experience.
world as well. That’s the digitalization that one hears so much
about today and the customer experiences. Our goal is to meet How well is the automotive industry prepared for these
the customer in their digital lifestyle, bring them along and changes?
provide them with a useful benefit through our product.
Dr. Zöller The industry is actually better prepared for the situ-
Joachim Bischoff At its core, today’s digitalization is charac- ation than is generally assumed or in many cases communi-
terized by massive increases in transmission rates and comput- cated in the media. Vehicle development has been using various
ing power, ever-rising storage capacity and ever-smaller chips. digital processes for quite some time. Take numerical simula-
Those are the factors that enable what we understand as tion, for example. Beneath the sheet metal and in the develop-
digitalization. ment process, vehicles have been digital for a long time; it’s
just not necessarily perceived by the customer as digitalization.
Is the impact of digitalization mainly a question of cus-
tomer perceptions? Bischoff The complexity that one has found in the vehicle for
the past ten years is astounding. Take the multimedia system,
Dr. Zöller Beyond the digitalization perceived by the custom- for example. Here the networking of various functions has been
er, there are also fundamental impacts on our company and in place for some time. Then there is the capability of integrat-
our processes. We have to be mindful of digitalization in our ing such complex systems in the vehicle environment, including
development processes and take more cues from the software vehicle functions like the drive unit control system. ›
So the question can be posed: is it easier for a software com- will have to assume that the customer is not paying the invest-
pany to build a car, or a carmaker to develop software? ment sum in its entirety for the vehicle purchase itself, but
over the entire ownership period. What that means is that we
Dr. Zöller What’s really new is that we’re going beyond the will have to continuously add new functions and features over
vehicle, competing with other players and having to meet new the lifetime of the vehicle. We call it the “car for life” concept
requirements. Earlier, the competition was other vehicle man- and expect it to bring about significant changes for our pro-
ufacturers. Today, the competitor might be an IT company, cess worlds and the customer experience.
and the customers expect functions in the vehicle that a start-
up has only recently brought to the market. What does it mean for the customer?
To what extent does digitalization change the traditional Bischoff The mobility experience is expanding. For the cus-
business models of OEMs? tomer, this will open up completely new opportunities in
terms of vehicle use, for instance through car-sharing concepts,
Dr. Zöller They will change quite significantly. Enablers, as and make additional services available on-demand.
they are known, foster a new kind of product substance
within and outside of the vehicle. One such enabler is over- Dr. Zöller In the future, successful OEMs will be characterized
the-air technology. It makes it possible to transmit software by their ability to strike a balance between new business fields
via the air interface, in order to update customer vehicles, for and their traditional activities, because the conventional re-
example. This not only allows us to ensure a continuously quirements of vehicles will remain in place as well. And what
current status for the vehicle, but also opens up new options especially applies to Porsche: a sports car has to be a sports
in terms of customization. For example, we can offer the cus- car in the future as well.
tomer additional and perhaps time-limited services and func-
tions for a fee as on-demand functions. What does the digital Porsche product world look like
in 2025 from your perspective?
What would that look like in practice?
Dr. Zöller Selling vehicles remains the top priority. However,
Dr. Zöller Today we’re used to selling a vehicle and thereby we will increasingly enable and offer more services and service
gaining an immediate profit from the sale. In the future, we packages as additional products to customize the vehicles.
Dr. Zöller We take both issues very seriously. From the very Joachim Bischoff (56)
beginning we’ve firmly anchored data protection in our Con-
nected Car organization. In all products, protecting privacy After his studies in communications engineering
at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences,
is part of the fundamental design. It’s important that custom- Joachim Bischoff began his career as a software de-
ers know what happens with their data and when what data veloper with Nokia in Pforzheim. He subsequently
worked for Harman Becker in various roles—first
is used. Privacy modes ensure that no data is transmitted if as the director of software development and con-
the customer wishes it not to be. We go much further than all cluding as Vice President of product development.
In 2010, Bischoff joined Porsche Engineering as
of our competitors in the respect. the director of the system development technical
discipline and has headed the digitalization depart-
ment since August 2016.
What can the data obtained with consent be used for?
Dr. Zöller We have a lot of ideas that concern our core product.
How anonymized data from the vehicle fleet, for example, can
help us make our vehicles even better. Or the fact that it en-
ables us to generate a highly precise map for real-time traffic
notifications. Such data will also play a major role in enabling
autonomous driving by providing a lane-specific representa-
tion of reality that is up-to-date. This data, by the way, is
anonymized in the vehicle before being transmitted.
Service
manager
Website
Porsche automation PC Other
customer portal websites
Plateau plug-ins
The architecture of the concept for website automation enables the centralized
and location-independent use of the server by multiple test benches.
uses implements
Server
implements implements
plateau plug-ins
New websites and sequences
of interactions can be directly
Automated Automated Automated connected to the intended
interactions 1 interactions 2 interactions n extension interface without
adaptation on the server.
New websites or new content on existing websites can be in- State Transfer Application Programming Interface) and has
tegrated via an extension interface. The operations of the implemented the WebDriver interface. The implementation of
additional interface are implemented for every automation the WebDriver interface is based on the one from Selenium,
and then dynamically accessed by the server. The access con- which is also used for website automation. The Selenium im-
cept and the use of centralized databases allow the simple plementation has been enhanced for use on smartphones. The
connection of new websites to be automated. The system also web server receives commands from a client that contain de-
offers a means of automating multiple websites in parallel that fined user interactions. Depending on the respective smartpho-
can be scaled to the number of test benches. ne’s platform, the commands are executed by UIAutomator
(Google) or UIAutomation (Apple). The results are then sent
back to the client as HTTP responses.
Server enables parallel and time-saving testing
These productive procedures create a basis for automated
The rapidly expanding scope of functionality in the area of regressive testing of newly developed services—for instance
vehicle connectivity and the concomitant rise in the need for networked charging control—in a manner that is as close to
testing in turn require ever more test benches. Through the the customer experience as possible, thus saving valuable
integration of the server, this concept offers the possibility of development time.
conducting simultaneous automation of multiple websites and
thus productive testing. The use of centralized databases that
enable a reaction to changes without recompiling the automa- Development continues even after production begins
tions ensures the desired adaptability. The use of proven tech-
nologies, meanwhile, secures the long-term stability of the Development processes will also have to adapt to new requi-
service. This requirement is relevant, particularly in the field rements. Among other things, this means stronger networking
of automated testing, as operations frequently need to be of various portfolios such as development, IT and sales, par-
maintained without interruption for many hours. The exten- ticularly with regard to coordinating the relevant develop-
sive logging also provides a wealth of information about the ment and validation activities. As has already been said, the
process of each automation. This information can be used to development of these networked systems no longer ends
analyze the results and provide the degree of detail required when the vehicle goes into production, but is a continuous
to trace the actions of the executed processes. Among other process. n
things, screenshots that capture the contents of a website in
the event of erroneous behavior support error analysis.
significantly between the two vehicle tion process. At the top of the agenda economical fuel consumption, long ser-
worlds. With 70,000 to 80,000 units per was the fulfillment of future legal re- vice life, low repair and maintenance
year, Scania produces significantly less quirements, and with an appropriately costs and powerful engines. Scania
than volume car manufacturers. long-term perspective in view of the long wanted to reinforce its premium posi-
product cycles. In order to ensure that tioning in order to continue setting new
And yet there are also certain similarities the new vehicles would be able to com- standards in the commercial vehicle sec-
between the Swedish commercial vehicle ply with emissions thresholds over the tor. The company also wanted to create
manufacturer and the Swabian sports car long term, the cooling capacity had to the conditions for growth, including
developer: both meet premium standards, be significantly increased. Yet larger heat into new customer segments, through
both utilize high technology and both exchangers and air intakes were also as- shorter life cycles, faster market launch-
invest in innovation and efficiency. So it sociated with major interventions in the es and additional cabin variants.
Development period: six years necessary to access the engine of the ulations, the design could be adapted to
truck, leads to high stresses to the cab the changes relatively quickly and tested
The project was devised to encompass structure during lifting and lowering of with regard to its behavior under loads.
four phases over six years. The concept the cab. Every change to the tilting axle,
phase began in late summer 2010 and then, necessarily influences the weight When it comes to the exterior, Scania
transitioned to the development phase distribution and thereby the structural has given top priority to aspects relating
the next year once the design was deter- design and crash behavior. Through sim- to aerodynamics and, consequently, ›
mined. Prototypes were available from
2012 onwards and at the same time in-
tensive testing scopes as well as the de-
tailed design of the new production
facilities started. The final phase, one-
and-a-half years later, was implementa-
tion with a production start in mid-
2016. A steering committee consisting
of technical experts from both project
partners coordinated the core develop-
ment areas, such as design and calcula-
tion, technology, production, NVH,
prototypes, testing and project manage-
ment. This organizational structure
simplified the process of unifying the
development processes.
R series
G series
Long
Crew
P series Cab
Crew
Cab
L series Low-entry
fuel consumption. Every surface, at the amples: for a long-haul tractor unit, the Development at Scania. “Despite the fact
front as well as along the sides of the view and the preservation of the driver’s that needs can differ radically in differ-
vehicle and, indeed, even below the ve- well-being are key. Moreover, the cabin ent driving situations and assignments,
hicle, has been optimized for minimum doubles as a living and sleeping space, our goal is for all drivers to be able to
drag. All clearances and tolerances have meaning that spacious and comfortable feel confident that no one else can offer
been minimized. Good aerodynamics quarters with a high driver position are a better solution for their particular
also helps cut noise levels both inside of the essence. For urban vehicles with truck and the conditions they work in.”
and outside the vehicle, as does the many stops, by contrast, multiple steps
generous use of noise- and vibration- to the driver cabin are time-consuming With their expertise in the development
absorbing measures, like carpets and and tiring. Trucks for waste disposal of decidedly stiff and light body struc-
expanding damping materials in vari- therefore have low boarding heights. tures, the Porsche engineers designed a
ous cavities. Construction site vehicles range some- cabin body utilizing steels of various
where in between the two extremes de- strength levels. While Scania had previ-
pending on the difficulty of the terrain, ously used mild steels without hot stamp-
Challenge: simultaneous development but require extremely robust designs in ing, the new cabin generation also uses
of 24 cabin variants any event. The cabin matrix from Scania modern high- and ultra-high-strength
is therefore divided into different cabin and hot-stamped alloys. The A-pillars
One of the greatest challenges in the levels over the chassis with variations in are made of hot-stamped boron steel, for
project was the simultaneous develop- roof heights and cabin lengths. example. The extremely high strength
ment of 24 cabin variants in a modular enables a leaner and lighter design, offer-
system. The primary differences at Sca- “The challenge is creating a flexible range ing both enhanced crash safety and a
nia are in the floor type, length and roof of cabs that can, without compromise, better view for the driver simultaneously.
type. Added to this is the distance to the offer the right solutions and right func-
chassis depending on the use, which has tionality for all applications and needs,” The use of roll forming profiles en-
a major impact on the design. Three ex- says Göran Hammarberg, Head of Cab ables high flexibility in component ›
production of the modular assembly advantage of the procedure: the quality involves 283 robots, which can produce
system. For example, the production of of the brazed seam obviates the need for up to 350 cabin bodyshells per day. The
same-type components of various the PVC seal that was previously neces- production facility is designed to accom-
lengths requires just one tool, which sary in those areas. Applied in the visi- modate both growing demand and an
results in greater flexibility and time ble areas of the cabin exterior shell, it expansion of the model range. In addi-
and cost savings in contrast with using also improves the cabin appearance. tion to the body assembly line in Oskar-
several different tools in the classical However, the method does require high shamn, the new cabin generation will
deep-drawing process. dimensional accuracy of the roof exte- also be produced at Scania’s plant in São
rior components as well as their precise Paulo, Brazil.
positioning. If the gaps b
etween the ele-
New production method: spot-weld ments are too large, the filler wire falls
bonding and laser brazing through. In this optimization of the re- Successful collaboration
spective production method, the exper-
Alongside the modern manufacturing tise of Porsche played a key role. Through the efficient collaboration with
methods in component production, Porsche Engineering, Scania is prepared
with its new cabin generation Scania The improved comfort of the new cabin to respond to changing circumstances in
also introduced new bonding technolo- generation also included further en- the commercial vehicle sector that might
gies to its production process. In the hanced insulation against chassis noise come up with regard to legal require-
floor and front areas, the spot-welding achieved through foaming components ments or technical efforts in efficiency,
is fortified through the additional ap- within the pillars of the cabin bodyshell. quality and safety. The project also es-
plication of high performance crash- Bulkhead components with expanding tablished quality-enhancing and cost-
type structural adhesive. This leads to a foam are used. After painting they ex- reducing processes in cabin production
huge improvement on fatigue, crash pand in the drying furnace and thus that will continue to benefit the com-
and stiffness performance. The use of attain their sealing function. pany well into the future.
the adhesive enhances the already ex-
emplary durability of Scania commer- The first four main cabin variants of the Scania approaches the future very well
cial vehicles even further. new Scania cabin generation have been prepared to meet the demanding and
in series production in Oskarshamn, exacting requirements of the commer-
In joining the exterior roof components, Sweden, since summer 2016. All further cial vehicle market and to position itself
the commercial vehicle manufacturer is variants will be launched successively. as the segment’s leader in quality and
using laser brazing for the first time. The The new body shop assembly process innovation. n
Design and manner of functioning vent a short circuit. Separators are frequently made of micro-
porous plastics like polyethylene. They can also be stabilized
A battery system is generally comprised of multiple mod- by ceramic particles. The pores in the electrodes and the sepa-
ules, which in turn are made up of individual battery cells. rator are saturated with an electrolyte that serves as a lithium-
The main components of a battery cell are the anode and the ion conductor. Solutions of organic carbonates—for instance
cathode, the separator, the electrolyte and the cell case. The ethylene carbonate—and a conductive salt such as lithium
electrodes consist of a thin metal foil (current collector) coat- hexafluorophosphate are commonly used as electrolytes.
ed with an electrode film. In the case of lithium-ion cells, the
aluminum foil of the cathode is frequently coated with an Immediately after assembly, a lithium-ion cell is in the un-
electrode film based on transition metal oxides such as lithi- charged state, i.e. all available lattice sites in the cathode ac-
um nickel manganese cobalt oxides. The anode typically tive material are completely occupied by lithium ions. If the
consists of a copper foil coated with a graphite-containing cell is charged, lithium ions move from the cathode through
electrode film. The porous electrode films consist primarily the electrolyte to the anode. There, the lithium ions are in-
of the active material and to a lesser extent of conductive serted into the anode structure. This process is also known
carbon additives and polymeric binders. as intercalation. To balance the charge, electrons flow from
the cathode to the anode by means of the connected energy
The two electrodes are electrically isolated from each other by source. When discharging, the exact opposite process takes
the separator—a semipermeable membrane—in order to pre- place, and the electrons and lithium ions move back in ›
Electrolyte
Charging
Lithium-ion current
Discharging
Separator
the direction of the cathode. This back and forth of the these two values, specific core materials are further devel-
lithium ions between the two electrodes is also known as the oped and optimized.
“rocking chair principle.”
The first time a lithium-ion cell is charged, a surface layer Cathode active materials
forms on the anode. The formation of this so-called SEI (solid
electrolyte interface) layer is an inevitable and irreversible The list of cathode active materials is extensive. One important
process, which results in the loss of lithium ions. However, a substance class is the transition metal layer oxides (see figure
stable SEI protects the anode structure against destruction. on page 37), with lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides
(NMC) prominent among them. NMC-111, for example, has
already proven effective in commercial lithium-ion cells in the
Further development of the materials for lithium-ion cells automotive sector. However, building electric cars with high
driving ranges requires cathode active materials that enable
Fundamentally, five criteria are in the focus of the further higher specific cell energies, which is fueling a spike in the
development of lithium-ion cells: safety, lifetime, power, cost prevalence of nickel-rich NMC materials with high reversible
and energy. Increasing the cell energy is crucial here in order capacities on the market. NMC-622 has recently become avail-
to fulfill the significant demands with respect to the driving able for automotive lithium-ion cells. Moreover, the optimiza-
range of electric cars at the lowest possible mass volume of tion of the cathode active material NMC-811 is in progress.
the battery. The energy is the product of the average cell Generally, the higher the nickel content, the higher the cell
voltage U and the cell capacity Q (E = U x Q). In relation to energy, but the cyclic stability of the respective lithium-ion cells
the cell mass or cell volume, one speaks of the specific declines. Nevertheless, nickel-rich NMC materials have great
energy (Wh / kg) or the energy density (Wh / l). To increase potential and will presumably be used in cells for automotive
b
a
Electrolyte
Cu
Cell case
Al
Separator
Cu Al Al Separator
Various designs of lithium-ion cells: A Cylindrical cell, B Prismatic cell, C Pouch cell. The cells were manufactured
by VW-VM Forschungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, a joint venture of Volkswagen AG and VARTA Microbattery GmbH.
needle-like structures can form. These lithium “dendrites” ticles, are used in commercial lithium-ion cells. The trend here
represent a major safety problem because they can grow is towards thinner separators (< 20 µm) for the development of
through the separator and cause an internal short circuit in high energy cells. In all-solid-state cells, the classic separator
the cell. Currently, research is being done to replace liquid should be completely replaced by a very thin layer of solid
electrolytes by solid electrolytes to enable lithium metal to be electrolytes. By this way, higher energy densities could be gained.
used as the anode active material in an all-solid-state cell.
Three common forms of the electrode-separator arrangement Compound foil-cell housings, by contrast, have a very low in-
trinsic weight and consist of substantially fewer components.
For the electrode-separator arrangement in lithium-ion cells, This makes it possible to achieve high specific energies. Due to
there are three different variants: cylindrical jelly rolls, pris- the flexible shape of pouch cells, however, the side walls are
matic jelly rolls or stacks (see figures on opposite page). These easily deformable and penetrable. Mechanical stability is only
are generally inserted into round or prismatic hard cases and achieved through additional side walls in a module. Moreover,
laminated compound foil housings. laminated compound foil-cell housings cannot accommodate
passive safety elements.
In the case of cylindrical jelly rolls, a homogeneous contact
between the electrodes and the separator is ensured. Their
big disadvantage lies in the fact that the roundings cause a Porsche expertise for the selection
high mechanical stress on the electrodes. Moreover, the of the best-suited lithium-ion cell
round electrode-separator arrangement manifests an unfa-
vorable heat distribution from the inside to the outside. Yet, Lithium-ion cells are complex and very multifaceted systems.
the good cell-interior density of this design enables high The wide range of materials available for the various cell
energy densities. Cylindrical cells are frequently manufac- components and the cell design are correlated with individ-
tured in the 18650 format. ual characteristics leading to different advantages and disad-
vantages in terms of safety, service life, output, costs and
In contrast to round jelly rolls, prismatic jelly rolls exert less energy. A precise understanding of the lithium-ion cell includ-
total mechanical stress on the electrodes. In addition, they ing all chemical and physical processes is, however, the pre-
have a better temperature distribution. The cell-interior den- requisite for the selection of the most suitable cell for the
sity, however, is lower compared to cylindrical cells due to respective vehicle—whether it is a sports car or another ve-
the housing edges. A frequently used variant in the automo- hicle in which Porsche Engineering is involved in the develop-
tive sector is the PHEV2 hard-case cell. ment process. n
Porsche E-Performance:
Panamera 4 E-Hybrid
Sport Turismo
Adaptive roof spoiler in the new
Sport Turismo model range
Automobiles of today are, funda- metric relationships and thus assume nomic principles. The keys here are the
mentally, the product of some 130 years what is known as the dimensional con- selected user spectrum and the defined
of continuous development, starting cept. As the shell, the dimensional con- threshold and target values for the
with the horse-drawn carriage. Since cept defines the space for the accommo- vehicle. The body measurements and
then, the center cell of passenger vehi- dation of the people and components as movement spaces are defined as geo-
cles has become established as the basis well as the vehicle design. In the package metric dimensions of the user spectrum
for positioning the people, and the front concept, finally, the complete structural (5th- to 95th-percentile person) and are
and rear areas for the drive unit, tech- space for all systems and functions is thus a direct component and basis of
nology, energy store and a more or less specified and harmonized. An examina- the dimensional concept. Additionally,
large compartment for carrying things. tion of these three concepts with regard the concept developer fleshes out the
to electromobility makes it possible to ergonomic concept of the new vehicle
What changes can be expected with the draw some conclusions as to the scope with further definitions: operation, view
transition to electromobility? In order to of the expected changes. toward the outside or of operating ele-
answer this question, it is important to ments, different motion patterns such as
know what a vehicle concept is and with getting in or out, subjective influences
which important sub-concepts it can be User-oriented: the ergonomic concept and habits of the user.
described. First and foremost, the objec-
tive of every vehicle concept is the opti- Concept development for vehicles is A more minor role here is played by the
mal accommodation of people as the fundamentally based on the user of the differences between the drive concepts.
users of the vehicle. This aspect is de- product. The insights of anthropome- With a strong focus on particular vari-
fined in the ergonomic concept. Based try—the study of the human body and ants of the drive concepts—for example
on this concept, the vehicles are de- skeletal properties and their precise favoring particular driving characteris-
scribed formally in terms of holistic geo- function—play a crucial role in ergo- tics or usable spaces—compromises ›
02 CONCEPT DIMENSIONAL
03 PACKAGE
CONCEPT
Ergonomic plus dimensional
concept with styling specifications
and initial package concept
Bank offset
The cylinder bank offset in a conventional V engine is the width of a connecting rod big end, but the bank offset
can also be avoided through the use of interlocking fork-and-blade rods (e.g. in Harley-Davidsons).
Crank variant 1 2 6 5 7 8
4
8 6 5 7 2
3
2 6 5 4 8
7
8 6 5 4 2
1
2 6 3 7 8
4
8 6 3 7 2
5
2 6 3 4 8
7
8 6 3 4 2
Crank variant 2 3 7 5 6 8
4
8 7 5 6 3
2
3 7 5 4 8
6
8 7 5 4 3
1
3 7 2 6 8
4
8 7 2 6 3
5
3 7 2 4 8
6
8 7 2 4 3
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Frederic Damköhler
Porsche Engineering EDITING | COORDINATION
ISSUE 1/ 2017
MAGAZINE
Nadine Guhl
CUSTOMERS & MARKETS Driver cabins for Scania's new truck generation
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Frederic Damköhler
TRENDS & TECHNOLOGIES Modular component for the battery system: the lithium-ion cell
ENGINEERING INSIGHTS Basics and success factors of the V8 engine ISSUE 1/ 2017
PRECISE. DESIGN
PRECISE
VISCHER & BERNET, Stuttgart
TRANSLATION
RWS Group Deutschland GmbH, Berlin
Porsche Engineering MAGAZINE
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