Bosch Invests EUR 400M Annually in EV Powertrain Development

After the launch of its parallel full-hybrid technology, global automotive supplier Bosch announced it has also decided to invest in the development of powertrain technologies for all-electric vehicles. According to a statement released by the company, Bosch makes some 400 million euros available for development work on powertrain electrification every year.

“In the future, the choice of powertrain will depend on the individual driver’s mobility requirements. The electric car will play an increasingly prominent role here,” said Dr. Rolf Bulander, president of the Gasoline Systems division of Robert Bosch GmbH.

In fact, Bosch is targeting all sorts of powertrains, since hybrid vehicles are an option for short-, medium-, and long-distance driving, while fuel-cell vehicles are especially suitable for long distances. “This is why we are not limiting our efforts to just one powertrain – we are working to develop diesel and gasoline engines further, while at the same time making a concerted effort to electrify the powertrain,” Bulander added.

Full-hybrid versions of the Porsche Cayenne S and Volkswagen Touareg were launched this year, the first vehicles worldwide to feature Bosch’s innovative parallel-hybrid technology.

In addition, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Bosch have formed an engineering alliance to develop diesel hybrids with electric four-wheel drive, which will go into series production in 2011. For these vehicles, Bosch is developing and manufacturing the power electronics and electric motors.

Bosch is working together with other companies in three government-funded projects that cover the major areas of electromobility development: ‘eperformance’ deals with the electric vehicles themselves, ‘MeRegio-Mobil’ deals with the integration of the electric vehicle into a future (battery charging) infrastructure, and ‘BeMobility’ deals with testing new mobility services.