48 V Fully Electric Systems – Mobility In Urban Areas

48 V systems offer more power with simultaneously reduced CO2 emissions. From a cost perspective, they are also much cheaper than high-voltage solutions. According to Valeo, the 48 V technology offers more opportunities than just hybridisation. Thanks to its higher performance compared to the 12 V option, the 48 V technology is also able to support the electrification of certain components such as compressors and fans.

- Michel Forissier

ELECTRIFICATION OF VEHICLES

The current focus of development is on solutions that reduce CO2 and pollutant emissions. This is mainly due to increasingly restrictive standards, be it in Europe (95 g/km in 2021 and probably 75 g/km by 2025 or 2030), Japan, China or the USA. The 95 g/km limit is achievable via the electrification of vehicles. However, this does not mean that all vehicles must be powered by a purely electric powertrain in the future. The goal is rather to use the solutions available to cover the complete range of electrification and to be able to offer suitable variants for different vehicle types.

Technology employing 48 V is a good compromise enabling performance of almost 15 kg/W. By using recuperation, the combustion engine can be supported with additional electrical power. The vehicle hence uses less fuel for the same performance, when using the energy gained from recuperation. The energy savings lie between 10 and 13 %, even reaching 15 % under ideal conditions.

Electric mobility is currently undergoing a transition and, since its early days, is beginning to assert itself while becoming more diverse due to the range of different use cases. The goal is to make the new forms of mobility accessible to the largest audience possible. This is being done by rendering the underlying powertrain systems less complex and hence more affordable and by seamlessly aligning the powertrain’s performance to patterns of use.

A wide range of electric drive products for different types of vehicles is already being offered on the market. For example, for small vehicles for inner city mobility, for premium sedans and SUVs and also for commercial vehicles. A suitable powertrain must be chosen according to the vehicle’s size, weight and performance class. The range of such powertrains covers low-voltage solutions for compact vehicles up to high-performance motors with 300 kW of power or more for premium sedans,