As part of just-auto’s ongoing monitoring of trends in the transmission sector, Matthew Beecham talked with executives from BorgWarner, Prodrive, Oerlikon Graziano and Getrag about whether they thought transmissions have more potential these days to help reduce fuel consumption and at a lower cost than, say, engine-internal measures?
Getrag’s engineers agreed with the statement, adding: “Besides engine downsizing the new technologies such as dual clutch transmissions (DCTs) significantly contributes to fuel consumption reduction. The main reasons for gaining good fuel efficiency are the absence of the torque converter slip loss and flexibility of gear ratios with high overall ratio spread combined with controllability of launch behaviour by electronics.”
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Getrag’s engineers added that, compared with other automatic transmissions, DCTs enable engine start-stop without any additional electric driven pump or pressure oil accumulator needed. “The opportunity of easy hybridisation delivers one further advantage, because the motor size can be minimised by connecting the motor to a certain path of the DCT with higher speeds instead of connecting to the lower engine crank shaft speed directly. Vehicles containing the second generation of our DCTs even show lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in the driving cycle than the corresponding derivative with manual transmission.”
BorgWarner believes that to optimally reduce future fuel consumption, all promising technologies that improve the efficiency of the overall powertrain will need to be considered. Alexander Moser, supervisor, advanced product engineering, clutch systems, BorgWarner Drivetrain Systems told us: “Only the proper combination of innovative engine and transmission technologies will provide the best fuel economy results for reasonable costs. Reaching these solutions will be a function of collaboration.”
Meanwhile, Oerlikon Graziano reckons that it’s about deriving the “biggest bang for the buck”. Paolo Mantelli, head of automotive transmissions, Oerlikon Graziano, told us: “Engine technologies have been developed to a level where it’s becoming harder to deliver significant benefits from each additional Euro. A step change is required. New transmissions can offer exciting possibilities, such as electronically-controlled AMTs [automated manual transmissions] or DCTs but the biggest gains come from optimising the powertrain as a whole, engine and transmission together.”
Oerlikon is a high-tech industrial group specialising in machine and plant engineering. Vocis designs, develops and calibrates automotive driveline control systems and in the management of complex driveline` integration programmes. This expertise is also being applied to next-generation electric vehicles, where the company’s innovative two-speed transmission will provide a step-change in energy efficiency. Vocis is part-owned by Oerlikon Graziano, which provides a range of complementary skills, allowing the partners to deliver complete, turnkey transmissions from design concepts through to vehicle integration and calibration.
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By GlobalDataFinally, Prodrive believes that significant steps in engine-out emissions can be achieved with major engine changes, particularly downsizing, but these are very expensive to bring to market.
Simon Leleu, Prodrive team leader for transmission and driveline systems told us: “The design and validation also means a long lead-time. In contrast, adding an AMT capability to an existing manual transmission can be fast and cost-effective and, by optimising the gear shift points, can bring substantial real-world reductions in emissions and fuel consumption. Linking this to affordable, incremental changes in engine design will bring further reductions. Integrated control strategies, a key strength for Prodrive, is fundamental to realising these benefits.”
