FEV, Inc. to Show Parallel Hybrid Powertrain Concept Featuring Electronically Controlled Automatic Transmission at 2011 SAE World Congress

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- FEV, Inc., (FEV) a leading developer of advanced powertrain and vehicle technologies, announced today that it will exhibit a Parallel Hybrid Powertrain Concept that features the FEV-developed Electrically Controlled Automatic Transmission, featuring 7 gears and Hydraulic actuation (E-CAT-7H) at the upcoming 2011 SAE World Congress, April 12 – 14, 2011 at Cobo Center in Detroit. The E-CAT-7H will be coupled with FEV's Extreme Downsized Engine (EDE), creating a Parallel Hybrid Drive Powertrain System.

The E-CAT-7H is a planetary gear set (PGS), seven speed electrically assisted hybrid automatic transmission designed for transverse (FWD) applications, making it an ideal concept for manufacturers as they downsize product lines in an effort to meet upcoming fuel economy standards.

Also small enough to package within an existing engine compartment, the E-CAT-7H powertrain allows both combustion engine and electric drive capability.  With a specific power level of over 100 kW/L, the EDE combined with the newly designed 7-speed automatic transmission with hybrid modes offers all of the desirable benefits of a parallel hybrid system without many of the traditional compromises.

The transmission is equipped with three PGS', three clutches, and two brakes. The first PGS is coupled to the engine and electric motor, with the two additional PGS' coupled to a differential to achieve the desired seven-speed hybrid functionality. The transmission currently features Hydraulic clutch actuation. Electromechanical clutch actuation is under development by FEV engineers, and will provide additional contributions to fuel economy, in the range of a 9 percent reduction in fuel consumption.

The EDE, to which the E-CAT-7H is coupled, is a turbocharged, two valve, SOHC three-cylinder engine with 689cm(3) displacement. FEV engineers introduced fully independent phasing of intake and exhaust cams on the SOHC valvetrain. Working with Mahle and Hydraulic Ring, FEV integrated its cam-in-cam camshaft into the cylinder head, enabling intake and exhaust valves to phase independently. The phasing angle was altered on the exhaust side, resulting in a dramatic increase in low-end torque of about 32 percent. The cam-in-cam with valve overlap and DI also resulted in the elimination of power-lag.

Direct injection (DI) was integrated by replacing the twin spark ignition with a single spark plug on the exhaust side combined with a high-energy spark coil.  The DI injector was then placed where the spark plug had been removed on the intake side. The DI spray pattern layout was optimized using FEV's injector layout tool chain, which combines an early layout of the base geometry, FEV's Multi-Layout Tool, and the FEV Charge Motion Design (CMD) process. A significant goal in this optimization was to reduce wall wetting to reduce the potential of diluting the engine's oil supply with fuel.

The combined parallel hybrid powertrain system provides a variety of key benefits:

• Stop/start functionality
• Two-speed pure electric driving
• Seven-speed internal combustion engine drive
• Boosting and recuperation
• Restart of the internal combustion engine out of e-drive
• Full powershift capability with no torque loss
• Three-shaft compact design
• Seven forward gears realized through three clutches and two brakes, and,
• Electromechanical or electro-hydraulic clutch actuation.

The system is scheduled to go into a demonstrator vehicle in 2012 at FEV's headquarters in Aachen, Germany.

About FEV

The FEV Group is an internationally recognized powertrain and vehicle engineering company that supplies the global transportation industry.  FEV offers a complete range of engineering services, providing support across the globe to customers in the design, analysis, prototyping, powertrain and transmission development, as well as vehicle integration, calibration and homologation for advanced internal combustion gasoline-, diesel-, and alternative-fueled powertrains. FEV also designs, develops and prototypes advanced vehicle / powertrain electronic control systems and hybrid-electric engine concepts that address future emission and fuel economy standards.  The FEV Test Systems division is a global supplier of advanced test cell, instrumentation and test equipment.  The FEV Group employs a staff of over 1,800 highly skilled specialists at advanced technical centers on three continents.  FEV, Inc. employs approximately 350 personnel at FEV's North American Technical Center in Auburn Hills, MI.

SOURCE FEV, Inc.