Economies of scale
As car manufacturers increasingly focus on electric driving, less and less money is available for cars with efficient hybrid powertrains. These will remain important for a long time to come, according to Volvo subsidiary Powertrain Engineering Sweden. This sees more cooperation in that area as an important way to continue developing cars with combustion engines at lower costs.
Automakers should merge the build of cars with hybrid powertrains to achieve economies of scale as they increasingly focus on electric vehicles. At least that is the opinion of the CEO of Powertrain Engineering Sweden, a subsidiary of Volvo that builds powertrains. According to Michael Fleiss of Powertrain Engineering Sweden, ‘the worst thing that could happen for the climate and the world’ is that the technology of combustion engines for hybrid powertrains is no longer developed. However, that threatens to happen if car manufacturers put all their money into the development of electric cars.
Merging the development and construction of combustion engines for hybrid powertrains by different car manufacturers can counter this. “It would certainly make sense from an economic point of view. It’s a pretty expensive product.” Swedish Powertrain Engineering wants to dive into that hole together with a Chinese sister company. According to Fleiss, the two companies, which jointly operate under the name Aurobay, want to become ‘as large as possible’ as quickly as possible. Because, according to Fleiss: “Even if all plans and ambitions come true by 2040, three quarters of the cars on the road will still have a combustion engine.”
Fleiss declined to comment on rumors that Aurobay is already in talks with Renault. However, there are many investors who want to put money into the company, he says. “They see that there is still a lot to be earned before this technology dies out.”
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl