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LOW-CO2 LCVs: Manufacturers air emissions and future fuel concerns
Date: 22 April 2013
Hybrids and range-extenders are an area the light commercial vehicle manufacturers are yet to properly embrace and offer products in, while the technology is becoming more widespread in the passenger car market.
"We are constantly looking at hybrids and range-extenders. Looking into 2020-25, even meeting the regulations will require some sort of hybridisation and that's a more rational solution for customers - you still have an engine to fall back on," Ford's Samardzich states.
But these moves to new technology don't herald the end of development for the traditional internal combustion engine, with constant improvements that some believe are slowing the adoption of new technologies. "All automotive companies are making big improvements on internal combustion engines and that may be one reason for slow EV take-up," says Mercedes' Mornhinweg. Commenting on the reluctance of the market to take on electric LCVs, he adds: "I think that's normal when you introduce new technologies into the marketplace. They are competing with internal combustion engines and we're making an extremely good job of them."
Mercedes-Benz vans' head of development Sascha Paasche says continued evolution of existing powertrains is still his favoured route at this stage. "You can't improve everything by 10% in one go, but lots of little changes, sometimes just 0.05%, can get to a significant level of improvement," he tells BusinessCar. "Continued effort is necessary; with conventional drive we are not at the limit, we can do more improvements to the internal combustion engine and there are still significant efficiencies to be had. Improving existing technologies is still the cheapest way of improving efficiencies."
The scope and variety of challenges the light commercial vehicle manufacturers are currently facing in the world of technology and emissions alone is unprecedented, and the main players seem to agree that the impact of the new developments and how they will shape the market is something yet to unfold.
