The company has a core focus on reducing CO2 emissions

MAHLE says technology diversity is and remains the strategic approach of its team and the most promising way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rapidly and effectively.
“We have a clear commitment to climate protection. And to e-mobility. We are ready,” MAHLE Chief Executive Officer Arnd Franz told an audience of international journalists recently.
In addition to products for pure e-mobility, MAHLE is focusing its efforts to boost the ranges of electric vehicles and to make it easier for customers to change over from pure ICE vehicles.
The MAHLE Chief Executive Officer also mentioned the high decarbonisation potential of renewable fuels, which is not yet being fully tapped.
“Any plan for rapid and effective climate protection in road traffic is incomplete without renewable fuels,” Arnd Franz said.
“In addition to hydrogen, especially in the transport sector, biofuels can make an effective contribution to individual mobility.”
He added that this would allow more rapid progress, especially with respect to the vehicle fleet. The share of renewable fuels, such as biofuels and synthetic fuels, used in road traffic would need to rise to 30 percent by 2030 in order to reach the climate goals, says Arnd Franz.
“MAHLE technologies already allow the direct use of renewable fuels without any compromises,” he said.
With its MAHLE 2030+ strategy, MAHLE, as a globally active automotive supplier, covers all types of powertrain which can make a key contribution to climate protection: electrification and sustainable internal combustion engines as well as thermal management to boost the efficiency and performance of the two technologies.
MAHLE will be presenting the latest developments in its three strategic areas at this year’s IAA Mobility in Munich (September 9-14): a range extender; a compact thermal management module with integrated heat pump; and ethanol-compatible engine components which it says will considerably reduce both the fuel consumption and the CO2 emissions of internal combustion engines.
MAHLE says its new range extender will increase the market acceptance of battery-electric vehicles throughout the world and allow the cost-effective, resource-efficient “rightsizing” of batteries without customers having to accept long waits at battery charging stations on long trips.
The new system, with a rated continuous output of 85 kilowatts (kW), consists of an especially efficient high-voltage generator powered by a compact internal combustion engine.
The heart of the 800 V generator is a permanently excited electric generator with a fully integrated cooling system.
In addition to a high peak efficiency in excess of 97 percent, this design ensures a high continuous performance density (in excess of 50 kW per litre), minimising material and space requirements as well as costs.
One of the special features of the MAHLE design is the high-performance direct cooling of the rotor, which significantly reduces the need for heavy rare earth elements, among other benefits.
The new thermal management module boosts the system efficiency of an electric vehicle and therefore also the range available with a battery charge.
It acts as the central interface for the entire cooling and refrigerant cycle of the vehicle, ensuring that each component of the drive and energy storage system is maintained at the right temperature at all times under all climate conditions at the same time as ensuring a comfortable climate in the passenger compartment.

To ensure maximum range per battery charge even when heating is needed in the winter, MAHLE has integrated a high-efficiency heat pump in the thermal management module.
The module combines air conditioning compressor, heat exchanger, refrigerant pumps, sensors and valves in a single unit. This reduces space requirements, development work and costs. In addition, the overall system is considerably more efficient, allowing the range to be boosted by up to 20 percent compared with a system using electric heaters.
Further, MAHLE says its ground-breaking radial blower for automotive air conditioning systems boosts efficiency at the same time as significantly reducing noise levels.
This product has been developed especially for vehicles with challenging installation space conditions and takes nature as its model.
The aerodynamic shape of the blower blades is inspired by the flippers of a penguin, which glides nimbly and rapidly through the water.
Thanks to its innovative design, MAHLE says the bionic blower is four decibels (dB) or 60 percent quieter than a conventional component, while efficiency is improved by about 15 percent as the motor requires less energy.
Finally, MAHLE says it underscores its technology diversity in the drive system sector with components for internal combustion engines that can be operated on renewable fuels.
With a new system consisting of pistons, piston pins and rings, called a “power cell unit”, as well as valve sets, MAHLE states it has taken into consideration the special requirements for ethanol operation.
It says the optimisation of components within the overall system ensures minimum lubricating oil consumption with high resistance to wear, corrosion and thermal stress for lower greenhouse gas emissions and the conservation of valuable resources.
In addition, the power cell unit reportedly allows fuel savings of up to 1.5 percent, which MAHLE says convincingly demonstrates that there is still potential for improvement even after more than 100 years of engine development and that CO2 savings can be achieved.

For more from MAHLE, visit www.mahle.com