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| Ford Global Warming and the shortage of energy supply based on fossil resources, increased safety requirements and cost will influence and dominate future vehicle design. In what ways will the powertrain technology differ? By 2018, Downsizing in combination with new direct injection systems
and boosting technologies will help to further reduce emissions of conventional
gasoline engines. High pressure injection systems as well as new combustion
systems will be the main enablers to lower the fuel consumption of diesel
engines. Advanced transmissions concepts, optimized energy management
and hybridization are some of the technical solutions to increase the
efficiency of all kinds of powertrains.
What materials will vehicles use - can we expect serious alternatives to steel to emerge? Steel will continue at least in high volume applications. High Strength Steels in all versions will be used to reduce weight. For specific parts also advanced materials like AL, MG and advanced plastic composits will be applied. What technologies will be making the big advances in safety in 2018? Active Safety Systems such as collision mitigation and collision avoidence will start having a larger penetration in the market. First applications of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication systems will also be available. How will automotive engineers' working lives be different? What skills/specialisms will be important? In many areas, the importance of electronics and controls will still significantly increase. The classical boundaries between mechanical and electrical engineering will dissappear more and more. In addition, specialists will be required with high level of expertise in new materials.
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January 2008
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