Boehlerit Magazin 2016-EN

Nokia, once the yardstick in mobile communication, is another company that suffered a deplorable fate. Three to four years after the iPhone had been presented, Nokia vanished from the market because the managers and engineers in charge insisted for far too long that swip- ing and tapping on displays was mere kids’ stuff. The automotive industry, of course, has a much broader base and is much more powerful than companies in the photography or mobile communication industries. But some trends and developments are still worth considering. Both in Europe and in the USA young people living in conurbations are much less interested in having their own cars these days, and the number of driving tests being taken is now declining. Hav- ing said that, people still wish to be mobile. So they use public transport and rental cars or they resort to car-sharing. The e-car suggests itself for inner city trips – for trips to shopping malls, sports or movie centres. There is certainly always time to charge the battery. The necessary infrastructure is continuously being improved. smatrics, a joint enterprise of Verbund and Siemens, offers charging stations throughout Austria; there are smartphone apps showing the locations of charging stations, and many of them are free. In terms of image, e-cars are certainly in the lead. If you have ever witnessed a whole bunch of young people jumping out of a tram just to watch a Tesla filing into a parking spot, then you will know for sure that things are changing. Virtually all large car manufacturers are offering electric models: Volkswagen the e-up and the e-Golf, BMW the i3, Renault the Zoe and Kangoo Z.E, Citroen the Berlingo and C-Zero, Ford the Focus Electric, Mitsubishi the i-Miev, Nissan the e-NV 200 and Leaf Visia, Peugeot the i-on and smart the fortwo electric. Tesla, a company from California, began in 2003 and first launched the Roadster, a two-seater, followed by the Model S. As of 2016 the company intends to approach a wider customer group with the Model X. What distinguishes Tesla from all the other manufacturers is the fact that it only produces electric cars. This makes Tesla so unique and ensures its competitive edge. We could exaggerate and say that the Tesla consists only of bat- teries, chassis and software. Every detail is controlled, from the dipped headlights to the chassis clearance, suspension and web browser on the huge 17” screen. The car is connected to the Internet at all times, the data fee at home and abroad is included in the purchase price. The car key comes in the shape of a miniature Tesla; when you approach the car, the handles move out of their slots, the mirrors fold open, and when fully charged the car has a range of 400 km minimum, with an additional 10 to 15 percent well possible. The models of the highest power category accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds. Even with “simple” e-cars, the full torque of an e-engine is immediately available at any speed, and this is the great advantage compared to the combustion engine. Electromobility is posing major challenges to the automotive industry of today. In two ways. For one, the fleet’s CO2 emissions must be reduced to 95 g/km by the year 2020. Currently it is some 130 g. Industry and policy makers are still disputing how e-cars are to be as- sessed in this respect. And secondly, car manufacturers have developed the highly complex system of control units, injection pump, carburettor, combustion engine, transmission, clutch, etc. to perfection. The new manufacturers of e-cars do not have to take on this huge engineering burden. This means that many brands will enter the market which are currently unknown or have been associated with high-tech electronics rather than with vehicle development until now. The major e-mobility boom will most probably not start in Europe, but in Asia. Four of the 15 biggest cities in the world are located in China with a total of some 55 million (!) inhabitants. Without a quantum leap in mobility management, these metropolises are bound to run out of breath – in every meaning of the word. Currently, e-mobility is still a niche product. The Austrian federal government is so convinced of this technology that it wants to bring 200,000 e-cars onto the streets within six years. Killer arguments are easy to find: the price and the range. But: The average Austrian car driver travels 36 km by car per day; every second trip covers no more than a mere five kilometres. The price of e-cars is still higher, because the numbers produced have not yet reached the quantities required. On the other hand, they are much cheaper to maintain (no changing of oil, no clutch, no cambelt, no new transmission, ...) and the electricity needed is just one tenth of the costs. And one more thing: At the end of the 1980s, a mobile phone weighed 15 kg and cost more than 5,000 euros; one minute on the phone cost 1.5 euros. The multimedia miracles of today are some seven millimetres thin and come for free when you subscribe to a newspaper. The technology of the old models is as crude as a club compared with a razor blade. One final thought: When you make popcorn, you put the kernels into hot oil in a pan. Nothing happens at first, but at some point the kernels suddenly start popping, pop some more and finally won’t stop. Make sure you put the lid on the pan in time. If you don’t, your en- tire kitchen will be full of popcorn. The same happens if something steps out of the expected linear development. See Nokia and Kodak. What does the electric engine mean for the machining industry?!?! • No more crankshafts, pistons, con rods, cylinders, transmissions, injection pumps, etc. – the demand for machining tools would drop by 80% in the production of e-engines, while the demand would increase by 20% for hybrid engine construction. 023 BOEHLERIT MAGAZINE

Seitenübersicht